Lonely Silence
by TangledPencils
Summary: The team run into trouble on a simple trading mission, and Sheppard has a problem. ShepWhump. First attempt at FF, hope I've got the rating right.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do not own Stargate Atlantis, or any of the recognised characters. I'm making no profit from this work of fiction.

LONELY SILENCE

By TangledPencils

Chapter 1

The stargate suddenly came to life, chevrons engaging as the alarm sounded throughout the control room. Dr Elizabeth Weir's attention re-focused sharply from the reports she'd been reading to the activity in the Gateroom. She flew to her feet and was out of the door before she knew she'd moved.

"Unscheduled Offworld Activation" the technician called out, as he saw her approaching him. "Receiving Dr McKay's IDC"

"Atlantis, drop the shield, we're coming in hot!" His urgent voice sounded throughout the room, and the Marines on duty scurried into place, raising their P90's and aiming towards the gate.

"Drop the shield" Weir ordered, and as it dropped, Rodney came staggering through the gate, instantly falling and rolling clear, just as Teyla came running through. They scrambled to their feet, and turned to face the gate, hurriedly dropping to the floor again when gunfire flew through the gate, and ricocheted off the walls. Everyone in the room who had a weapon drew and aimed it at the rippling surface of the wormhole.

Amidst the screaming bullets, Ronon appeared, charging through with his torso twisted around, blaster aimed behind him at an enemy that they couldn't so far see. He anxiously watched the gate as he waited for the final member of the team to appear. He seemed oblivious to the bullets bouncing around the gateroom, and began looking concerned when Lieutenant Colonel John Sheppard did not immediately appear behind him.

Rodney started muttering under his breath, only Teyla close enough to hear the words…"Come on, come on, hurry up".

Then suddenly, the missing member of the team appeared, but not in the way they were expecting. He came flying through the gate, narrowly missing the top edge, the propelling explosive force hard behind him, causing several crouching Marines to be knocked over with the force. Sheppard sailed across the room, his arms windmilling wildly, and landed with a sickening crunch on the steps, his shoulder taking the brunt of the force, and the crack of his head hitting the leading edge of the top step she was standing on an instant later made Elizabeth cringe.

"Raise the shield" she screamed, and watched with relief as the shield came up, and the wormhole disengaged.

TBC ?

A/N. Well, this is my very first attempt at writing a fanfiction story, after happily reading many others for several months now. I'm not sure if I should continue to try, or if I should just go back to reading...I'd appreciate any comments you may have, and constructive criticism is always good. I know this first chapter is rather short, but I wanted to know what the general thought was before getting too carried away. Please review so I know where to go next.


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer. I don't own Stargate: Atlantis, or the characters, but oh boy, I wish I did!

All mistakes are my own as I have no Beta. Also, I've seen only some of the episodes in the 1st series, so have relied rather heavily on the repititious details that other authors have used, hoping they are true to the series and the characters. Please forgive any boo-boos!

Chapter 2

"Medical team to the gateroom!" Weir ordered, as people began picking themselves up off the floor and checking themselves and their equipment for damage.

McKay, Teyla and Ronon converged on Sheppard, as Weir crouched down beside the bloody form of her military CO, hesitantly reaching out a hand towards him.

He lay still as death, his face pasty white in the harsh glare of the lights, chest barely rising and falling as he struggled to breathe. Blood ran down his face from the large gash on his head and his shoulders seemed to be oddly distorted. It was the final obvious problem that had Elizabeth drawing in a startled breath…in his throat was some sort of primitive looking dart, the tiny visible part of the shaft coated in a sickly green substance that glistened evilly in the white light.

Carson burst into the gateroom, a medical team on his heels, and with a quick encompassing glance around the room, descended on the prone Colonel. Dr Weir and the rest of the team stepped back to allow the doctor through, and heard him muttering under his breath as he quickly assessed Sheppard.

"What have ye done now lad? Hmmmm…severe head wound…possible dislocated shoulder…might be broken…difficulty breathing, could have some broken ribs…what the hell! A dart! Damn!" Carson began giving orders to his team to get Sheppard on the gurney and to the Infirmary, finally taking a minute to glance again at the rest of the team.

"Anyone else got any injuries?" he asked, and McKay finally began speaking, his voice nearly hysterical.

"I kicked my toe as I came through the gate, it's probably broken," he spluttered, his voice getting faster and higher in pitch as he spoke. "I can hardly walk, you'll need to get a gurney for me, I can't possibly walk to the Infirmary, I…"

"Right," said Carson, cutting Rodney off in mid-flow. "You two OK?" he asked Teyla and Ronon, who both nodded, their faces reflecting their concern as their eyes followed Sheppard's progress from the room.

"In that case, would ye both please get Rodney to the Infirmary in any way ye can, I have to help the Colonel," and he turned and nearly ran from the room after the gurney carrying Sheppard.

Teyla and Ronon each grabbed one of the protesting Rodney's arms and began marching him towards the Infirmary, Elizabeth following them closely.

"What happened?" Weir asked. "This was supposed to be a nice easy visit to a nice friendly planet for a simple trading mission."

"We were ambushed by the Genii," Teyla ground out, nearly spitting the words in her anger.

TBC

A/N. OK, I know, another short chapter, but I'm finding the chapters seem to just end themselves...I'll try to work on making them longer in the future. I'm completely overwhelmed by the encouragement I've received for the first chapter, it's been a completely mind-blowing experience, watching the reviews come in, and literally bubbling with excitement over them. Thank you all sooooooo much. I hope I can continue to uphold the standard you all apparently feel I've set for myself.  



	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: I don't own SGA or any of the characters you recognise. At this point, only Brown and Hoff are my own.**

**A big thank you to nicol-leoraine who volunteered to be my Beta, as I am to her. Your help and ideas are much appreciated.**

Chapter 3

"They attacked us in the middle of the negotiations, with no warning, and killed a lot of the natives. We barely made it to the stargate." Teyla gritted her teeth, fighting to keep her voice calm as she thought about what had happened.

Weir closed her eyes in anguish. The damn Genii again! Why couldn't they just leave them alone, it wasn't like the Atlanteans went looking for them, they wanted nothing whatever to do with them, but like the proverbial bad penny, they just kept popping up all over the place, continually causing the people of Atlantis problems.

"That madman Kolya was there," McKay babbled, "he was throwing grenades and shooting at anything that moved, I nearly got shot, see?" and he showed Weir the hole in his shirt sleeve that indicated a bullet had indeed passed through the shirt, luckily missing his arm by a fraction. "I could have been killed, it was terrible, all the shooting and screaming, and the explosions, oh dear, it was really noisy, and then Sheppard started adding to the noise, shooting back, and yelling at me, and…"

Ronon suddenly growled menacingly, and Rodney stopped in mid-stream, his eyes going huge in his white face. His limping pace suddenly picked up until he was nearly jogging towards the Infirmary, being propelled along the halls by the Satedan whilst Teyla and Weir kept pace.

They nearly burst into the Infirmary, to find Duty Nurse Julie Brown waiting for them, directing them onto nearby beds for their post mission checks, but with no sign of Sheppard or Carson anywhere.

"How's the Colonel?" they all asked nearly in unison, hardly noticing that they'd done so.

"Dr Beckett has him in surgery. I don't know much more than that, except he was alive when they went in. They'll probably be in there for a while, so Dr Hoff will be here in a minute to check you all out," Julie replied.

"Another voodoo practitioner," McKay scoffed, "Beckett's been training him in voodoo dolls and spell casting mumbo jumbo since the day he got here."

"Perhaps that's something you should keep in mind when I've got a syringe in my hand Dr McKay," a wry voice broke in.

They all turned towards the bulky form of Dr Barry Hoff, latest recruit from Earth, and reportedly a former ballet dancer. Considering he was nearly the size of Ronon, with a shambling walk that indicated he might be clumsy on his feet, McKay dismissed the rumours as being a flight of fancy that had somehow been taken as fact.

Ignoring the doctor's comment, McKay instantly launched into the details regarding his injury.

"I've kicked my toe, it's obviously broken, the bone might even be poking out…oh my god, I could get an infection, you might have to amputate it, I could even die!"

McKay drew in a breath to continue when he saw Dr Hoff turn to peruse the various instruments lying on a nearby tray that the nurse had placed in readiness for him. He was humming under his breath, a tune that sounded rather like "the knee bone's connected to the thigh bone". Following the doctor's eyes, Rodney blanched when he spied several syringes lying there, most of them with long sharp needles the size of horse needles already in place.

Instantly, he started easing off the bed, eyes glued to the sight of the needles and the suspiciously humming doctor.

"On further consideration, I think my toe is ok, just bruised…yes, that's it, it's bruised, it'll be fine, you don't need to even look at it, I'll just put some ice on it and it'll be fine," McKay began sidling towards the exit, failing to see Ronon move to block it more effectively than an entire football team.

McKay continued backing towards the door until he bumped into Ronon, turning quickly to see the towering Satedan who stood there with his arms crossed over his chest, and a look on his face that clearly told Rodney that he would NOT get past him.

"Now now Dr McKay, just sit down again and we'll get right into the tests, the sooner you let me complete them, the faster you'll be able to leave." Dr Hoff stepped over to Rodney, placed a hand on his arm and gently led him back to the bed. He pushed him gently but firmly down, only removing his hand when Rodney sank down in defeat and buried his face in his hands.

--ooOoo—

Dr Hoff had disappeared into the lab to continue his work, leaving them in the company of Nurse Brown after clearing Ronon, Teyla and Rodney.

"Have you any news of Colonel Sheppard?" Teyla asked her.

"He's still in surgery," she replied.

"What exactly are his injuries?" Elizabeth asked, her mind dreading the answer.

"I don't know exactly," said the nurse, "but I know he had a broken shoulder, a head injury, and Dr Beckett was very concerned about that dart in his throat."

"Could you please see what's happening in there?" McKay asked. "They've been in there for ages now, I'd have thought the Witch Doctor would have whipped him up some concoction of boiled brains and strained bat droppings by now, and he'd be out here trying to do the Limbo."

Glancing at the exasperating physicist, Nurse Brown saw the anxious eyes and the strained features he was trying to hide behind his snarkiness. Her heart softened as she realised the rumours of the closeness of Sheppard's team were not exaggerated. She was new to Atlantis, she'd shipped in with Dr Hoff, so had only had limited contact with the premier team.

"Ok, I'll see if I can find out anything, but you know how Dr Beckett can be, he may just chase me out," she said, heading towards the OR doors.

As she disappeared from sight, Teyla and Elizabeth joined Rodney perching on the edge of the bed, while Ronon still leaned nonchalantly against the wall, his face like granite.

Barely 5 minutes later, the nurse reappeared, her face red with embarrassment. The team and Elizabeth jumped to their feet, the question in their eyes.

"Well, I don't know much more than I did before, Dr Beckett wasn't exactly in the mood for information sharing, he's rather busy at present. But…he said that yes, the Colonel's shoulder was broken, and he's still waiting for some tests from the lab for information about his head wound. As for the dart…" Julie paused, her face drawn. "He muttered something about it possibly having poison on it before he chased me out."

_Poison!_

Elizabeth paled at the statement, and the others all exchanged anxious glances before they settled onto the beds, sitting quietly but with their eyes turned towards the operating room doors. They would wait as long as it took.

TBC

**A/N Well, the response has certainly been incredible, everyone is urging me to continue, so I've done so. I've managed to make this chapter longer, and am working on longer chapters for the future.**

**A big thank you to everyone who has reviewed; QueenBoris, Linnzi, Thru Terry's Eyes, SpecialAgentJim, Titan5, sherryw, briebydeb, Baileysmom, Caro, chituhr, drufan, acheron'sgirl, Splitbeak, Alipeeps, wraiths-angel, Stealth Dragon, kittytrypsin, Sheppardster, chocolaj, TheNaggingCube, Kristeen, and Icshpp. For some reason I've been unable to respond personally to some of you, the profile's just haven't been coming up for me. You are all wonderful people and I hope you continue to enjoy the story. A big thankyou also to those who read but didn't review, although it would be nice to know who you are and what you thought.**

**The chapters may slow down a tad now, as I'll be working the next day or so, and I'm also going away for the weekend to my friend's farm - I have to see and cuddle all my babies, the wonderful goats and sheep that I've been a "Mum" for over the last couple of years!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: I still don't own them...rats!**

**A/N I had a bit of trouble with this chapter, trying to portray what led up to the previous chapters is ok in itself, but the only one who knows the whole story is Sheppard, and as you all know, he's so far unable to tell anyone. Then I realised that TV shows have the habit of ignoring little details like this, and showing flashbacks in entirety, as if the narator had seen and heard everything, which isn't right when you realise the person wasn't actually in the particular scene! In light of this, I've written this chapter in the same way so you all know what happened. Please forgive this transgression into "TV boo boos".**

**Thanks also to my beta, nicol-leoraine for her helpful comments and ideas.  
**

**I dedicate this chapter to my Mum, who laughed hysterically when I confessed I'd started writing this story, and who nearly peed herself when I informed her of the stats...beware 'Mummy', revenge is sweet! evil smile here **

Chapter 4

**4 hours ago**

PB3-245 was supposed to be a nice quiet world, cool forests, meandering streams, hidden grassy clearings interspersed with the odd mountain range, with vast open plains in the southern areas of the continents. The natives were friendly easy-going people who lived in large family groups and travelled like gypsies across the planet, mostly nomadic although there was the occasional farmstead and a few scattered villages. They used no technology to speak of, but they DID have one unique feature…they had a lot of animals on the planet that were very good to eat, almost a plague of some species, and they were wondering what to do about it, without wasting any of the meat.

Sheppard's team had come here initially on a simple meet and greet mission and had then gone on to discuss possible trading…the natives hunted a lot, and there were large numbers of animals as a result of several good seasons. There was a particular animal that was plentiful and found nearly everywhere that was becoming a real problem. It was similar to a deer with a trunk like an elephant. The Bonyx wandered in small herds usually, but recently had formed massive moving hordes, that literally destroyed the areas of grassland and forest they moved through. The natives were happy to seek a possible trade deal that would reduce their numbers in a useful way.

Yes, it appeared that this would be an easy mission…a nice hike to the closest village, a cheery but skilful trading session, followed by another lovely hike back to the stargate. The details of the trade had mostly been worked out on their previous visit, so in Sheppard's mind the fat lady was just about to open her mouth for the finale when suddenly things started to go south.

They were seated in front of the headman's hut, the rest of the village's inhabitants clustered around, when Ronon lifted his head and stared into the forest, his blaster suddenly appearing in his hands. Barely had Teyla and the Colonel started to grab their own weapons, when something came flying through the air to land just beyond them in the midst of the main group of natives. There was an explosion, and bodies flew in all directions, the sound of gunfire pierced the afternoon quickly followed by the dangerous sound of Ronon's blaster wreaking havoc.

Sheppard grabbed Rodney and shoved him behind him, while firing off a burst from his P90 at a barely glimpsed figure pointing a gun in their direction. Another man appeared beside the first, firing a gun in their direction and the native running just behind John at that time dropped like a stone, half his head missing. The Atlanteans found cover amongst the huts and the natives scrambled around gathering their own weapons while the ambushers continued to pick them off with both bullets and grenades.

Hearing Teyla firing her P90 on the other side of the hut he and McKay were crouched beside, Sheppard knew she was still ok, and he could see Ronon 2 huts away, firing a blaster he'd set on the 'kill' setting into the trees on the other side of the village. The surviving natives were sending arrows into the trees as well, but the chaos continued, and the number of defending natives was slowly being whittled down. Confusion reigned. Gunfire, explosions and the screams of the wounded made for a shocking scene that dramatically faded into the background when John spotted one of their attackers…Kolya!

Sheppard ducked, as a bullet flew past his face and hit the wall of the wooden hut, showering him with splinters. Behind him, McKay started swearing as another bullet zipped past him close enough to tug on his shirt-sleeve. The psyisist had his 9mm out, and was looking wildly around, obviously fairly close to panicking. A quick look around the camp revealed that most of the natives had disappeared into the forest, and that the attackers seemed to be trying to concentrate on the Atlanteans.

"Ronon! Teyla! Fall back to the gate, we have to get out of here!" John yelled into his radio, firing off bursts from his P90, and starting to shove Rodney in the direction of the gate. "Run for the gate McKay!"

They all took off for the gate, Sheppard giving them covering fire for a few seconds, then running after them using the trees as cover wherever possible. As they drew further ahead of their attackers, they converged on each other until the four of them were within metres of each other, close enough for mutual support, but not close enough to form a large target.

"I saw Kolya!" Sheppard hissed into his radio, hearing Teyla gasp in reply, while Ronon growled. "The damn Genii somehow must've known we were here. We need to get back to Atlantis ASAP! Teyla, you and Rodney take the point, get to the gate and dial it up…Ronon and I will cover you."

Teyla forged ahead of them, McKay trailing her, his 9mm clutched in his hand and an expression of fear combined with determination on his face. He would do his best, there was no way he wanted anything to do with the Genii ever again. He remembered the invasion of Atlantis and his heart started pounding in his chest. Sweat poured down his face but it wasn't totally from exertion…this was a cold sweat, the sweat of fear. Rodney saw Teyla fire her P90 at something off to his left and watched almost numbly as a Genii soldier spun out from behind a tree and dropped like a stone to the ground.

With a start, he snapped back to the here and now, realising that the lives of himself and his team now rested on his shoulders. For his own sake, and his team's, he would get to the gate but dear God, he was scared.

Ronon and Sheppard watched their back trail as they began following their team-mates, firing their weapons at the Genii who foolishly came within range. They leap frogged each other, steadily making their way after Teyla and McKay, until they came within sight of the stargate. As McKay feverishly dialled the gate, several Genii suddenly burst out of their hiding places, and began firing their weapons at them.

The opening wormhole whooshed into being, and Rodney hurriedly sent his IDC, then began yelling into his radio.

"Atlantis, drop the shield, we're coming in hot!"

"Go McKay!" Sheppard yelled as he sent a hail of bullets from his P90 at the Genii.

Sheppard managed to spare a quick glance at the gate and saw McKay run through, closely followed by Teyla. He motioned to Ronon to follow them, that he would give covering fire, and would be right behind him. Ronon nodded, and retreated steadily towards the gate, finally turning and charging into the shimmering puddle.

Sheppard sent a final burst at the Genii, then turned and ran towards the gate. He hastily reloaded with a fresh clip as he ran, ducking and zig-zagging his way towards the gate as rifle fire kicked up dirt and leaves all around him. An explosion to his left showed the Genii were closing in, and he hastily ducked again, the wind gust from the blast sending leaves and sticks flying all around him.

He turned to fire again when he felt a sharp pain stab at his throat, and looked up into the eyes of Kolya. The Genii was smiling evilly and was lowering a long tube from his mouth as he started to close in on Sheppard. Staggering from the impact at his throat, he scrambled madly in the direction of the gate, and was climbing the steps when he saw from the corner of his eye a grenade hurtling through the air in his direction. He increased his pace, but knew he wasn't quick enough.

He reached the platform and dived towards the gate as the grenade detonated half way up the steps. He felt the force of the explosion take control to hurtle him through, turning his controlled dive into a wild flight that ended as he flew through the gate and slammed into the steps of the control room, where blackness claimed him.

TBC

**A/N Once again, I'd like to thank all the people who took the time to review, the support from you all is amazing, and believe me when I say, for a first time author, it's pretty heady stuff! Thank you to the repeat reviewers, glad you're still with me, and for the newchums who've just joined me on this wild ride, welcome and I hope you enjoy it.**

**As I'm working tomorrow, and going away for the weekend straight after that, I'll try to post a further chapter before I go. Will give all the lambs and kids a cuddle for those who requested it, who knows, my 'kids' may even have some ideas for me, lol. **


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything, although I'm checking my new cereal box this morning!**

**A/N I see that chapter 4 has finally showed up, and I've got 1/2 hour before I go to work and then away for the weekend, so here's chapter 5 to keep you going. Thanks to nicol-leoraine for betaing for me, her ideas are definitely improving the story. Enjoy. **

Chapter 5

3 hours later, the door to the OR was still closed. Elizabeth had pieced together enough from the team's stories to have a reasonable idea of what had happened, so now they simply waited, while visions of what happened after Ronon came through the gate played endlessly through her mind, each one slightly different, but all ending with seeing John come flying through the gate and slamming into the steps at her feet.

Nurse Brown had asked them to move to the waiting room, so with reluctant steps, they shambled across and flopped bonelessly into the uncomfortable chairs.

_Poison! _ The word echoed through her skull, finally driving away the visions, and replacing them with horror.

Poison was unfair.

_Poison!_ It was the tool of assassins. The murderers who skulked in the darkness. The lowlife criminals who actually took payment for ending a life on the whim of their employer. The victims quite often had no idea they were even in danger until it was far too late.

_Poison!_ It was the tool of suicidal criminals. Those who refused to face judgement or punishment for their crimes, and decided to take the 'easy' way out. The ones who thought they could avoid interrogation; that they had something to lose, when in reality they'd already lost it.

_Poison! _It was the tool of cowards.

Elizabeth shuddered in revulsion at her thoughts. She deliberately tried to blank her mind, and instead began drawing up a mental list of orders she intended to issue.

--ooOoo—

Ronon's thoughts were dark and angry as he waited with the others. The native villagers had been as surprised as the rest of them at the unexpected attack, and to know that Kolya and the Genii were behind it started a smouldering fire burning deep in his guts, that was slowly increasing the longer he waited for news of Sheppard's condition.

His reaction to the idea of poison being used on the Colonel hadn't been as obvious as the others, but as he waited, his thoughts returned to it. There was no honour in using poison against an enemy. If you had an ounce of self-respect for yourself, and you wished to fight with someone, you did it upfront and in the open, as in a duel. Just you and your weapons against your foe, in open confrontation, shooting, stabbing or hitting each other, where the blows would be personal and have some measure of meaning…where your enemy knew you were there and what they faced when you fought.

Poison was a coward's way to fight. A sneaky, underhanded method that had no honour or satisfaction to it, and that possibly wouldn't even end in your foe's death until much later, when any meaning to the death was long gone. There wasn't even necessarily a need to even get close to your opponent, when there were so many ways to administer poison to someone…put the poison on something they touched, lace their food or drink with it, or, as in this case, use a delivery weapon such as a dart, an arrow or even a dagger. No, there was nothing honourable about using poison, and Ronon turned his thoughts to plans of revenge.

The former runner's imagination was quite good, plus there were a number of intriguing things he'd heard about over the years that would be perfect to use, and see how Kolya felt about being on the receiving end of a 'chat'. Yes, these were very entertaining thoughts, and Ronon eagerly began making plans for the day he got his hands on Kolya. The Genii would regret this day for the rest of eternity.

--ooOoo—

Teyla focused her mind on an Athosian meditation exercise, trying desperately to calm herself. The trading mission had been going so well, and with so little fuss she had actually started to relax her normal vigilance. She'd been smiling and enjoying the lovely planet when the peace had been shattered by the attack. Her lack of caution had hit her like a club in the instant she'd seen Ronon react to the unseen attackers presence, and she'd been mentally chastising herself ever since.

The revelation that they were attacked by the Genii, led by Kolya no less, had been a shock, a shock that quickly turned to fury and rage, all then deliberately channelled into action as she'd played her part in getting them safely to the gate.

Her concern for her team leader and friend, John Sheppard, had forged to the surface since his original entrance to the gate room, overshadowing her other thoughts, and helping to keep the anger at bay. Now, as she waited silently with the others in the waiting room of the infirmary, she struggled to keep her feelings under control, and to think.

Poison was anathema to her people. It was forbidden. It was reviled. It was seen as a secret hidden way of death, a perversion of life and for someone to deliberately poison another person was met with disgust, revulsion and an execution. There hadn't been a 'poisoner' amongst the Athosian people in thousands of years. They knew other cultures both used and accepted the practice, but they held themselves above such abomination, and had outlawed it amongst themselves on pain of death.

Her thoughts slowly calmed a little, although she too found herself thinking of retribution, and as various punishments for Kolya filtered through her mind, she found herself gaining a small amount of inner peace…yes, these thoughts were helpful. She knew that Ronon would most likely be having similar thoughts, so contented herself with the knowledge that she probably wouldn't get the chance to carry out any of them, so could therefore unleash her imagination. Continuing to breathe deeply, her mind slowed it's endless activity, and settled in two directions: The health of Colonel Sheppard, and the punishment to be meted out to Kolya, should he ever come into the hands of anyone from Atlantis.

--ooOoo--

Rodney couldn't sit still anymore. He fidgeted in his seat for a while, before starting to pace the length of the waiting room…10 steps up, stop, turn, 10 steps back, turn…his brain was going faster than his pacing, and it was currently full of 'what ifs'. What if they'd gone to the planet yesterday, or even tomorrow, would the attack have still have happened? What if they'd never gone there in the first place, would Murphy's Law have kicked in, and they'd have been attacked on some other planet? What if he'd been faster dialing Atlantis, would Sheppard have still taken that swan dive onto the steps? What if…dear God…Sheppard didn't recover from this?

What would he do then? There'd be no one to snark at, no one to make any smart comments back to him, no one with a strong enough ATA gene to touch things and make them work, no one to defend him from the Wraith…that last thought was the scariest. None of the military force currently on Atlantis inspired that feeling of trust and safety like Sheppard did. The man continually beat the odds, and saved the day whenever there was something needing to be shot or blown up. McKay was nearly positive Sheppard was given C4 to play with in his cradle, he was so good at using it.

Then McKay thought of the ultimate reason that Sheppard just couldn't die…he would lose his best friend. The thought stopped him in his tracks, his mouth open in horror. His best friend! For some reason, the two most un-alike people on the planet had become friends, best friends. They whinged and whined at each other, snapped at each other in times of stress, sniped at each other in glorious snarking fashion at other times, but still held each other in enough respect to have formed a firm friendship.

Best friends simply didn't give up on each other, and if he was being honest with himself, Rodney could see they didn't. Sheppard's code of never leaving a man behind had saved Rodney countless times, while Rodney's brilliance with technology had done the same for Sheppard. Even on the planet, Sheppard had adhered to his code, making sure his entire team was through the gate before coming himself, even if it was in an obviously uncontrolled fashion.

And that right there gave McKay his answer…he simply wouldn't allow Sheppard to break the friendship code by dying. He'd hound the man from one end of the Pegasus Galaxy to the next if it helped, but there was no way he was going to give up on one Colonel John Sheppard. Having resolved his thoughts to his satisfaction, Rodney re-seated himself, hauled out his laptop, and started working. He was far too busy to waste time worrying when there was work for him waiting. Even so, he still found his eyes straying from the screen to the closed OR doors every now and then…his conscious mind might have been happy with his resolution, but his unconscious mind had other ideas.

--ooOoo--

They sat in the waiting room of the infirmary, Ronon staring into space, Teyla sitting with her head leaning against the wall and her eyes closed, and McKay busily typing into his laptop. Elizabeth sat slumped tiredly in another chair, idly running her fingers up and down the seam in her jacket sleeve.

The details of the fiasco that was a simple trading mission swirled around in her brain. Trading for fresh meat took a back seat to the thoughts of retaliation on Kolya and the Genii, and she gave herself over to the luxury of dreaming up some imaginative, although highly improper and immoral punishments for the scheming ambushers. None of the inventive ideas she thought of would ever happen, she knew that, but just thinking about it gave her a morbid sort of pleasure, and kept her brain from thinking too much about the man on the OR table.

The door leading out of the infirmary opened, intruding on a particularly nasty (for Kolya) daydream and Major Lorne poked his head in from the hallway outside. Seeing them sitting there, he came inside and crossed to stand in front of them.

"Is there any news yet?" he asked.

"No," Elizabeth answered, "nothing as yet. However, from what Rodney, Teyla and Ronon have told me, it looks like we've got a problem…Kolya and the Genii were responsible for the attack and Colonel Sheppard's injuries."

"Kolya!" Lorne's face darkened in anger as he spat out the hated name. "I'll kill that bastard one day," he grated out, his hands clenching into fists.

"You'll have to stand in line Major, and unless there's a sarcophagus around somewhere, I doubt there'd be much left of him by the time your turn came up." Weir glanced meaningfully at the other occupants of the room, and the Major nodded in agreement.

He saw both Ronon and Teyla give each other significant glances and knew the Atlantis Expedition Leader was correct. He silently vowed to be on hand if the day should ever come. Who knew, perhaps he could even hold Ronon's coat for him! He certainly wouldn't want it to get dirty.

Jerking his thoughts away from such pleasant ideas, he then snapped to attention and asked "What are your orders then?"

"I'd like you to ready 2 jumpers with a full marine contingent and have them on standby, just in case we need them. Also, please advise Sergeant Bates of the Genii's meddling, and ask him to tighten up the security of the gate room, and any other areas he feels necessary." Dr Weir's voice was tight with worry, anger and determination. "I'll brief you all as soon as I know how the Colonel is."

"Consider it done. Please let me know when you hear any news," and turning on his heel, he started out of the room, already opening a radio channel to start relaying her orders.

The 4 of them resumed their positions, shifting slightly to relieve cramping muscles.

Suddenly, movement and noise intruded upon them, the doors to the OR opened, and Carson walked out, tiredly running his fingers through his hair. He looked weary beyond belief, but there was also an air of optimism about him.

McKay was on his feet and in Beckett's way faster than anyone would have thought he could move, Teyla, Ronon and Elizabeth not far behind him.

"Well? Did you work your voodoo or what? How is he?" McKay fired the questions like they were loaded in a P90.

"He's stable at present," Beckett replied. "He's got several problems, all of which are serious. He's managed to both break and dislocate his shoulder. It was like making a jigsaw puzzle there's that many pieces, and he's now got that many screws and plates in there that an airport metal detector would have conniptions if he tried to go through it. I've managed to reduce the dislocation, so with a lot of rest and care, and plenty of physiotherapy, he _may_ regain full use of it."

Carson paused to look at their exhausted faces. They had all taken note of the rider he'd placed on that report, and their faces all showed their apprehension at the news.

"Then there's the head wound," he continued. "It was a very hard knock he got there, and there seems to be some fairly major trauma as a result. Until the swelling in his brain goes down, I don't know just how bad it is, and at present he's still unconscious, so we'll just have to wait until he wakes up to assess that." He took a deep breath, then went on.

"Now that dart, that's a problem. It lodged in his throat, within a millimetre of his vocal chords, and appears to have some kind of substance on it. I've sent it to the lab for testing, but I don't like what it seems to have caused…" Beckett paused, noting the stunned looks on his audience's faces. "It must have some type of drug or poison on it, because the Colonel's vocal chords seem to be totally paralysed…he can't make a sound!"

TBC

**A/N Ah yes, I can hear the howls of protest from here...I build it all up nicely, drop this little bombshell in your laps, and then sneak out for 3 days, pmsl. I've been trying to learn from all the other authors here, so if you agree with this, then I guess you could say I learnt from the best!**

**A big thank you once again to all who have reviewed, you're all wonderful people. Your encouragement and urging to continue is really driving me on, and I even find myself mentally writing parts of the story when I'm doing other things. Love you all. **


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer: I don't own Stargate: Atlantis or any recognised characters.**

**A/N Sorry this is later than I promised, I had problems accessing the site yesterday. This chapter is a bit shorter again, sorry about that, I wanted to post something for you all. I'm still working on posting longer chapters, so please don't be too upset. Hope you're all still sticking with me, please read and enjoy. **

**Thanks to nicol-leoraine for betaing this for me. **

Chapter 6

Beckett's words fell on his audience's ears like bombshells. They seemed to be having trouble understanding what he'd said, and he watched them all anxiously as he saw dawning comprehension in their eyes.

"You mean he's mute?" McKay asked incredulously.

"Aye, it looks that way," Carson replied. "I don't know if it's a temporary or permanent condition, and again, like with his head wound, I won't know until he wakes up, but I'm hoping it's something that will wear off in time."

"Well, isn't that just great," McKay nearly snarled. "The Genii pop back into our lives like a dose of the cla… ummmmm, I mean, the Genii are back, obviously looking for trouble, and Major Mute in there can't even say "Nick off" to them? Oh, we are soooooooo screwed." Rodney hurriedly changed his words when he remembered that there were ladies present.

Elizabeth didn't know whether to laugh or cry at McKay's statement, while Teyla just looked confused.

"What about his other injuries Carson?" Elizabeth asked.

"Well, he's got a couple of cracked ribs, and some minor shrapnel wounds in his back, and a whole truck load of bruises courtesy of his meeting with the steps, but that's about it. I suppose he's got off rather lightly, all things considered, but he's not completely out of danger just yet. That head wound could cause a few problems, but we'll just wait and see…I'll know more when he wakes up, as I've already said."

"Oh come on Dr Frankenstein, surely you can do more than that? Go sacrifice a chicken or something, we need Sheppard awake and talking, not sleeping and silent." McKay's comment made Beckett see red.

"I'll have ye know, Rodney, that there's nothing else to be done at the moment until he wakes up. I need him conscious to assess him further, so I'll thank ye to either shut up or ship out of here!" Beckett's tired eyes flashed dangerously, and Rodney suddenly gulped, remembering just _who_ it was who had access to the really big pointy needles.

"Ok, ok, I get the message," McKay back-peddled fast. "When can we see him?"

Carson slumped down again. "Not before tomorrow, he's still in recovery, and I don't expect him to wake up in the next 5 hours. Go and get cleaned up, have something to eat and try to get some sleep. There's nothing ye can do right now for him."

Teyla, Ronon and Rodney were ushered out of the infirmary, reluctantly yielding to the doctor's orders, and Elizabeth started to follow them before pausing on the threshold.

"Aye, I'll let you know immediately when he wakes up," Carson anticipated the request, and answered before it could be voiced.

A chorus of "Thanks Doc", "Thank you Dr Beckett", and "Thanks Carson" rang in his ears, and he let out a sigh of relief when the door closed behind them. Now he could finally resume concentrating on his patient, instead of dealing with healthy people.

--ooOoo--

Carson sighed heavily as he finished checking over the unconscious Colonel. By all rights, Sheppard should have died several times since they came to Atlantis, but somehow he continued to beat the odds and survive. He now occupied his unofficial 'usual' bed, the bed that seemed to have an invisible sign on it that announced it was 'Colonel Sheppard's Bed' he'd spent that much time in it. Anyone who came to the infirmary to see him automatically headed towards it, before they even looked to see if he was actually in it.

Carson considered briefly moving the Colonel, just to see the reactions, but somehow had the feeling that that would be a bad idea. When Sheppard was in the infirmary, there was a strange feeling that seemed to follow him in…a feeling that someone was watching…a low, nearly inaudible humming sensation he barely felt deep in his bones…that abruptly stopped when the Colonel was released.

Carson had the feeling that Atlantis watched over the Colonel when he was in here. He'd noticed on several occasions, that if there was a sudden problem with John's condition, just before the alarms went off, he'd get a fleeting feeling of urgency coupled with panic. He'd wondered after the first couple of times if through his own slightly weaker ATA gene, Atlantis was trying to warn him about John's pending problem. He had a funny feeling right now, not the usual one, and he was bothered by it.

He considered the battered form lying in the bed in front of him. Sheppard lay on the mattress, his wiry form covered to the waist with the sheet so that only his top half was really visible. His right shoulder was heavily bandaged and supported in a sling, his ribs were bound to provide some support, and a heavy bandage surrounded his head with his trademark-tousled hair poking up around it. There was a gauze pad covering the entrance point of the dart on his throat and over nearly every bit of skin visible were darkening bruises.

The heart monitor beeped reassuringly, the oxygen mask over the Colonel's face assured him a supply of oxygen, and an IV in the back of his hand helped to replenish fluids. He seemed to be resting quite comfortably so why did Carson have a vague feeling that something wasn't quite right? There was nothing he could obviously find at this point, everything appeared to be as normal as this type of situation allowed, but he continued to experience a vague feeling of something being out of kilter. He considered the feeling again as he rechecked Sheppard's vitals and injuries.

Again, he couldn't find anything to cause him to feel this way other than his concern over the Colonel's condition as a whole. Sinking into the chair beside the bed, he continued to hash over the problem in his mind. At length, he decided it was a similar feeling to making a jigsaw that had had one piece replaced by another from a different jigsaw…his subconscious had noted it, but his eyes hadn't found which piece it was yet. If that was the case, he'd better stay close he thought, so he settled back in the chair, cupped his chin in his hand resting on the armrest and closed his eyes, letting his thoughts drift as they tried to settle on what the problem might be.

--ooOoo—

_He was running through the forest, turning to fire his P90 behind him, then continuing his flight. He saw Ronon ahead of him, firing his blaster to the left, and a black figure slumping to the ground. Suddenly he was at the gate, giving covering fire as he saw his team mates bolting through the open wormhole. He turned to run towards it, but his legs seemed to be made of lead, each step causing him to feel he was running in slow motion._

_There was something wrong. His throat felt numb and his gasping breaths were strangely silent. He saw again the grenade sail through the air as he struggled desperately to climb the steps, and watched it as it landed close behind him. He tried to yell in defiance as he dived desperately through the wormhole, but again, he heard no noise, just the detonation of the grenade._

_Emerging into Atlantis he saw the steps coming towards him in slow motion, and knew it was going to hurt. Silently screaming, he crunched into the steps…_

_…and woke up!_

_TBC _

**A/N Thanks again to all who have reviewed, I'm thrilled by all your responses, and read each one eagerly. It appears I'm doing something right here, as you all keep coming back...I just hope I can continue to keep your interest.**

**For those of you who asked for it, all my 'kids' and 'lambs' (ok, ok, they're actually 'goats' and 'sheep' now, lol) got some extra cuddles on the weekend, and they all loved it. They said to tell you all 'maaaa' and 'baaa'!**_  
_


	7. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer: Still not mine, still no profit (sigh)**

**A/N: Sorry this is later than previous updates, looks like they'll be slowing down a bit now, but I'll still be trying for at least 2 updates a week. Thanks again to nicol-leoraine for betaing for me. **

Chapter 7

The steady beeping of the heart monitor suddenly sped up and became rather erratic. Beckett's eyes flew open and he jerked upright in response, hands already reaching for his stethoscope as he stood and took the single step that put him beside the injured Sheppard. The Colonel suddenly jerked, and his eyes opened, then squeezed tightly shut, no doubt in response to the messages his abused body was sending him. He was gasping silently, his mouth open to intake the desperately needed oxygen as quickly as possible.

"Colonel Sheppard, you're ok, you're back in Atlantis," Carson soothed, trying to get him to calm down.

Unfortunately, it didn't appear to make much difference, as Sheppard opened his eyes again and stared at him in a glassy and unfocused manner. His body was rigid as a steel rod, his gaze clearly not focusing on the concerned Scot, who continued to talk soothingly to him.

Gradually, his gasping breaths measured out, and became deeper and more regular, and the heart monitor settled into a more normal pattern. His eyes seemed to focus a bit more, although he stared at a point slightly to Beckett's left, and his clenched muscles relaxed a bit. He shut his eyes again, and Carson waited for him to orientate himself.

At last, Sheppard opened his eyes, and Beckett spoke again.

"You're ok Colonel, you're in the infirmary, can you tell me how you feel?"

At his words, Sheppard's gaze turned towards him, still slightly offside. His brow furrowed and he attempted to speak, but there was no sound.

Beckett easily read the Colonel's body language however, and what he saw had him reaching for a syringe from the tray nearby. The contents were injected into the IV port, and he watched as Sheppard's body relaxed and his eyes slid shut. He waited until the Colonel's breathing evened out into a sleep pattern, then allowed himself to heave a sigh of relief, before heading towards his office.

Seeing Julie Brown on the way, he told her to sit with the Colonel while he checked the test results and made some calls.

--ooOoo--

Elizabeth rounded a corner in the hallway leading to the infirmary and was nearly knocked over by a hurrying Dr McKay. They grabbed each other in support before releasing their holds on each other's arms.

"Can't you people watch where you're going, I'm in a h…oh, Elizabeth!" Rodney started his usual rant before realising who it was he'd run into.

"I gather Carson called you too," Elizabeth said wryly as she adjusted her sleeves.

"Yes, I was just on my way to the infirmary now."

They continued down the hall together, turned the final corner and saw Ronon and Teyla approaching the infirmary doors from the other direction.

"Looks like the gang's all together again," McKay said. "Now we just need to find out how long it'll be before Sheppard can stage a jail break. I imagine he's probably already planning something."

He palmed open the doors and went inside, the others trailing behind him. Beckett was in his office, and he stood up and moved to intercept them immediately.

"Well, how is he then?" McKay asked craning his neck trying to see the Colonel.

"Well he woke up briefly, but he was seriously disorientated, unable to properly focus his eyes, and was in a lot of pain, so I've given him something to ease it and make him sleep a bit longer. I just wanted you all to know that he HAD woken up." Carson's report had them relax a bit, some of the anxiety leaving them.

"However," his next words drew their eyes to him like homing beacons, sharpened gazes boring into him.

"However, I've just got the test results on that dart back, and I'm not happy with them. There appears to be some sort of substance on it yes, although it doesn't appear to be poison. The tests we've run so far indicate it was meant to be something similar to a muscle relaxant, not a toxin." Carson could see that the words appeared to mean something to Teyla, and he waited for her to speak.

McKay opened his mouth to say something, but Elizabeth gave him an uncharacteristic elbow in the ribs, then nodded towards Teyla. Rodney followed her gaze, saw the reason for the elbow and remained silent.

"I believe the natives on PB3-245 used this Dr Beckett. Several of the villagers Ronon and I spoke to explained how they hunted the Bonyx and mentioned using something they called 'floppy juice'." Teyla explained. "Apparently they can run very fast, and this substance works very quickly to immobilize the animal with a minimal amount of effort."

"What else did they say about it lass?" Beckett asked.

Teyla furrowed her brow and she thought back to the conversation. "Not all that much, except that they had to be careful using it, as it produced a similar effect on any animal it touched, including humans."

"Did they say if there was an antidote for it? This is important Teyla, please try to remember." Beckett's voice held an urgent tone, and Elizabeth thought she could detect a tiny bit of panic in the doctor's eyes.

Teyla's eyes narrowed as she thought, and she cast a glance in Ronon's direction. He shook his head in denial. If such a thing had been mentioned, it hadn't been in his hearing. Finally Teyla nodded to him in agreement, and turned back to face Beckett.

"No Dr Beckett, this information was not mentioned to us. Surely it would wear off though, as you originally thought?"

Beckett's shoulders slumped and he heaved a sigh.

"No, apparently not in the Colonel's case. The test results indicate that the stuff is reacting to his ATA gene. It's affecting only the area within an inch or so of where the dart struck, but it shows no signs of wearing off. Without an antidote, I'm afraid the Colonel's condition may be permanent!"

--ooOoo--

He became aware of himself slowly, his thoughts sluggishly trying to take shape in a manner he could make sense of. Visions flashed across in front of him, random scenes that disappeared before he could really 'see' them. Trying to concentrate on them made his head hurt, so he didn't, he just let them play out and eventually they settled into a steady memory, although not really a 'good' memory. He saw the dash for the gate, the team ahead of him, their desperate exits and himself giving them cover fire. Suddenly, he saw Kolya and his guts churned with the memory. Then he was flying, but there was no plane, just himself, and then there was pain.

He considered these memories, and as his consciousness level rose, he became aware of voices near him. They were disjointed at first, similar to the memories, but they too soon settled down into definite recognisable people. He just wished they'd stop speaking in whatever damned language that was, and speak in English, so he could understand them.

He heard a male voice first, one with a strange type of cadence to it that his mind identified as belonging to Carson. The next voice had an arrogant sound to it, rather sarcastic…that must be Rodney. A lighter female voice answered him, Teyla, his mind supplied. Another female voice spoke and he easily identified that as belonging to Elizabeth. An occasional deep rumble sounded like Ronon was here too. Now if he could just figure out what they were saying. He decided that showing he was awake might sort things out, so with a mighty effort, he cranked his eyelids open, and tried to focus on the group.

It was disconcerting to say the least. There appeared to be nearly a dozen people standing around, and they were all twins. He squeezed his eyes shut for a moment, then tried again, to be met with the same confusing sight. Even blinking rapidly didn't help. Trying to focus simply made his eyes water and his head ache even more than it already was. He tried to move his legs and the voices suddenly stopped. The entire group moved closer to him, starting again into the chatter he was starting to think was something like Icelandic crossed with Ancient. It still sounded like double Dutch to him.

He shook his head in confusion and blinked at them owlishly. Ok, he'd had enough of this.

_ Will you lot talk in English please, _ he tried to say, and then stopped in surprise as he realised he'd made no sound. _ What the hell is going on, _ he tried again, with the same results.

He tried to sit up in a panic but stopped instantly when he felt the pain from his broken shoulder stab into him. The Carson's were instantly by his side, gently easing him back into his pillow, speaking softly in that weird language. Closing his eyes again, he took some deep steadying breaths, feeling his ribs protest right along with his shoulder, and some other body parts having their say-so in a lesser manner as well.

Gradually, everything settled down to a bearable level, and he opened his eyes again, and tried to focus on one of the Carsons. He raised an eyebrow in query, and saw identical looks of understanding on the Scot's faces as the doctor again began speaking to him in gobble-de-gook, but in an explaining manner that evidently meant he was answering Sheppard's unspoken question. The answer left him no wiser though, and a look of confusion and frustration appeared on his face, along with a touch of fear as well. Beckett rambled to a halt and looked more closely at him.

#Vp;pmr;. Vsm upi imfrtdysmf ,r sy s;;?# Carson babbled at him.

Sheppard stared at him incredulously, making no reply.

#Vp;pmr;. Og upitr ;suomh dp,r lomf pg kplr. Yjod odmy gimmu.# Carson tried again, a touch of exasperation in his voice.

Sheppard continued staring at him, mouth gaping open under the oxygen mask in shock. Then he slowly shook his head. His thoughts were reeling. Apparently he couldn't speak for some reason, and now he also couldn't understand a word the doctor said.

No! No! he tried to yell, but his throat swallowed the words before they could be heard.

He continued to shake his head, the motion getting faster and faster, feeling the pounding headache and the ringing in his ears getting more pronounced, and his breathing becoming more laboured. The heart monitor raced with the panic that was threatening him, and his vision was starting to grey over.

He felt hands on him, and realised through his panic that the chattering voices were trying to speak to him. Then gradually his body started to calm down as he felt a coolness flow through his veins. His mind slowed to a crawl, and then he slipped into sleep.

--ooOoo--

They had been discussing the Colonel's condition, and making plans for returning to the planet to try to contact any surviving natives about an antidote when a slight noise drew their attention to Sheppard's bed.

Instantly the conversation ceased as they moved as one towards him, realising that he had his eyes open and was watching them.

"Well, it's about time you woke up, you've done nothing but laze around since you made your spectacular entrance through the gate," Rodney started, eager to get the first snipe in.

"Rodney please, at least give him a chance to wake up properly," Elizabeth chastised, then giving Sheppard a 'welcome back' smile.

"It's ok lad, you're in the infirmary in Atlantis," Beckett said soothingly, as he gave Rodney a sidelong glance of disapproval.

John's face took on a look of confusion, and he was blinking rapidly. They saw him try to speak, then saw the look of surprise on his face when he realised he hadn't made any sound. He tried again and when that also had a similar result, he obviously began to panic.

Trying to sit up woke up all the peacefully slumbering injuries, and Beckett hurried to his side, and eased him back on the bed.

"Settle down now lad, you've got a helluva break in that shoulder, you really don't need to go stirring it up just now. Settle back there, and take some nice deep breaths."

Sheppard closed his eyes, and took some steadying breaths, then re-opened them and tried to focus his gaze on Carson. Again, Carson noted he wasn't quite looking straight at him, and decided the Colonel probably had some double vision from the concussion and head wound.

The raised eyebrow carried the obvious question to the Scot, who answered it, explaining to Sheppard what his injuries were and what he was doing for them. He wasn't very far into the explanation when he noticed the look on Sheppard's face that said he was totally confused. The look intensified and also became mixed with frustration and fear, and Beckett slowly stopped talking and stared at Sheppard.

"Colonel, can you understand me?" he asked.

Sheppard continued to stare at him in confusion and amazement.

"Colonel, if you're playing a joke here, it's not funny," Carson said with exasperation.

He finally saw Sheppard shake his head, his mouth opening in an obvious attempt at speech. The Colonel's eyes widened and he started to panic, his head shaking wildly in denial. The heart monitor started screaming and his breathing became faster and erratic.

"Ronon, hold him steady, I'm going to give him a sedative," Beckett ordered. The big Satedan moved forward, placing his hands gingerly on the panicking Colonel, careful of his injuries. Teyla and Elizabeth tried to help by speaking soothingly to Sheppard, trying to help him calm down.

Carson quickly picked up the syringe, and while Ronon held the Colonel's arm steady, injected the contents into the IV port. Gradually, Sheppard settled as the drug did its work, and eventually he drifted off to sleep.

Beckett checked his patient over, then ushered the rest of the group out of the room.

"Well, that was fun," McKay snarled. "What the hell was that all about? I thought you'd worked your magic and there was only that toxin to worry about."

Teyla, Elizabeth and Ronon all looked expectantly at Beckett, obviously all wanting the answer to the question.

Carson sighed in frustration. "I also told you that I couldn't evaluate his head injury until he woke up. It appears that to add something extra to the pot, not only can't he speak, but it now looks like he can't understand English either!"

TBC

**A/N: Thank you to all those who have reviewed, it's true what other authors say, reviews really DO make my day, and certainly encourage me to keep going. I'm glad you're all still enjoying the fic, and I hope you continue to do so. **


	8. Chapter 8

**Disclaimer: ( Do I actually need to put it in each chapter? ) Oh well, I don't own any of the SGA characters recognized.**

**Thanks go to my beta, Nicol-leoraine for her nod of approval. **

Chapter 8

Dr Weir watched each person come into the conference room. This would be more than a debriefing. There were a lot of factors to be considered here, not just the Colonel's plight. The original trading mission, the Genii ambush and subsequent involvement, and the urgent problem of finding out about the dart and its nasty little additive would all have to be considered before anything could be planned.

She could see anger, frustration and worry on nearly all their faces, and in Ronon's case, a dangerous glint in his eyes that promised mayhem, destruction and death. His face was set in a hard mask; only his eyes betrayed his thoughts. Everyone settled into seats in silence, and turned their attention to her.

The door opened again before anything could be said, and Dr Beckett and Dr Hoff entered and slipped into a couple of empty seats.

Elizabeth cleared her throat, then started the session.

"Ok, you all know the basic details of what happened during the trading mission to PB3-245. Now we have some decisions to make. I want a team to return to the planet, search out the villagers, and see what you can learn about the Genii intrusion and the dart that was used on Colonel Sheppard," said Weir. "If the Genii DID obtain it from them, they should hopefully have an antidote for it."

"What's the Colonel's condition now Carson?" she asked.

"He's still sleeping at the moment, but I can't keep him sedated much longer. He really needs to be awake, and hopefully, in full command of his faculties. I'm hoping the confusion over speech might have cleared up once he wakes up again, but we'll have to wait and see on that one."

"Is there anything in particular the team going back to the planet should be looking for?" Elizabeth asked.

"Teyla has reported that the natives there apparently use something like this during hunting. They call it 'floppy juice', so they will hopefully be able to provide us with more details, and perhaps even an antidote," Beckett said.

"Do you think it's the same thing, or could the Genii have used something else?" Major Lorne asked.

"We really won't know that until we have more information," Beckett replied. "All I can hope is that whatever and wherever the stuff came from, we can find a treatment for it very soon."

Everyone nodded in agreement to that statement, and the talk then moved to the personnel going on the mission.

"Major Lorne, have you selected your military teams?" Weir asked.

"Yes, I've two teams of marines standing by in the jumper bay, and two jumpers are ready to go," he reported. "Ronon and Teyla are coming to help find the natives they were dealing with, so I'm only waiting on Dr Beckett."

"Well…I'm going to send Dr Hoff with them to handle any medical details that come up. I need to stay here and look after Colonel Sheppard. As it's mainly a fact finding mission, if anything develops from that, like the fact we might have to make our own cure, he'll be able to make the decisions on what happens next. He's the one who handled most of the tests on the dart, so he's got a good chance of working out the next move." Beckett spoke with firmness, and Dr Hoff nodded in agreement.

"You're comfortable with that Dr Hoff?" Weir queried.

"Yes," he said. "I've studied the dart and the 'juice' that's on it as far as I can at this stage. I need more information about it before I could even try to compile a cure. I believe it may be a plant-based substance, and I'm hoping to get samples of the plant, plus information on how it's prepared to be used as this 'floppy juice'. I need to go with the team for this to occur."

"Right then, Major Lorne will be in charge of this mission. There'll be 2 jumpers, a marine contingent, plus Ronon, Teyla and Dr Hoff. You're to find out everything you can, and come back safely. Kolya and the Genii may still be there, so exercise caution." Elizabeth summed up the briefing. "Any questions?"

They all shook their heads.

"In that case, you leave in an hour." Weir stood up, nodded to them all and left the conference room.

--ooOoo--

His next awakening was swifter than the previous one. One minute he was surfing off a beach somewhere, the next he realised he was lying in a bed. Opening his eyes, he saw the familiar ceiling tiles of the infirmary, the squiggly line pattern on a particular tile even telling him he was in his usual bed. He blinked, and realised that his vision appeared to have improved, the tiles were quite sharp, without the hazy double vision he remembered seeing.

Sheppard lay still, and began running through his memories of what had happened. To his surprise, he seemed to remember everything that had happened, right up to seeing the steps of the gate room flying towards him. Then there was an annoying blank, after which he seemed to vaguely remember waking up and being unable to talk. Frowning as he thought about it, he became aware of a tapping noise coming from his left. Rolling his head slightly, he saw Rodney McKay sitting beside his bed, working on his laptop. Well, no surprise there.

Turning his attention back to himself, he began taking a mental inventory of what hurt. Ok, obvious head ache there, so along with the gap in his memory it was probably safe to say some sort of head injury. He could feel a fierce ache in his shoulder, so there was a problem there too. The dull pain in his chest told him he'd hurt his ribs – again! There was an IV in his hand and he could hear the annoying beep of a heart monitor, but he sighed in relief when he realised that at least for the moment, there wasn't any catheter. He really hated those things. All things considered, he thought he felt ok, although he realized that might be because of all the 'good stuff' Beckett was probably giving him.

Idly watching McKay, he suddenly remembered what he now hoped was a weird dream…Beckett, Weir and his team had been here, all speaking a weird language…and he hadn't understood anything. They'd spoken it to him, as if it was normal. That couldn't be right. He must've really done a number on his head, and wasn't remembering properly…he was probably delirious.

Making that decision, he decided that it was time Rodney stopped working, and started paying attention to him.

"Hey," he said, and frowned when there was no sound. Damn, he'd been right with that memory, he really couldn't speak. Deciding that there were other ways to attract Rodney's attention, he slowly raised his hand to where the leads of the heart monitor were attached to his chest, and with an effort that made his head swim and awoke some slumbering aches, he managed to pull one of them off.

Instantly, the heart monitor's steady beeping changed to a high pitched scream, the screen showing a flatline, and chaos broke out. Rodney's head flew up, his mouth open in horror as he expected to see his best friend dying. From the main part of the infirmary voices erupted, an authoritive voice yelling what sounded like orders that drowned out the babble of others and was accompanied by the sounds of hurrying footsteps and the rattle of equipment trolleys. The melee came closer, and suddenly there was people, equipment and noise all around him, converging on him in a tidal wave of sight and sound that was extremely overwhelming.

Carson reached his bedside first, expecting to see the worst, and instead found himself confronted by a nervous looking Colonel Sheppard, hand gripping the heart monitor lead and his eyes wide with apprehension over the reaction he'd caused. Carson opened his mouth to angrily demand what Sheppard thought he was doing, then closed it again, the words unsaid. The sheepish look on the injured CO's face told him he hadn't meant for this to happen, and when he saw Sheppard glance toward Rodney, then back to himself, Carson realised he'd simply been trying to get McKay's attention.

"Of course, you can't exactly yell at him at the moment, so I guess I can see why you did that," Carson said to Sheppard.

Sheppard stared at Carson in shock, his mouth hanging open like a goldfish's.

"Oh hell lad, you still can't understand me, can you?" Carson frowned.

"Oh, that was a brilliant deduction Watson, whatever gave that away?" McKay said sarcastically, recovering from the shock and trying to cover the look of concern and panic he'd been wearing not even a minute ago.

"Don't start with me Rodney," Beckett said. "Or I might just remember you're due for a vaccination or two."

"Ha! You've already vaccinated me for everything from Smallpox through to Alterian Athlete's Foot, you're too late for that one," McKay shot back.

"Ah yes, but there's that nasty little virus that Sergeant Poole's team brought back from that planet 2 months ago, I've only just finished a preventative vaccine for it, and I need to test it," Beckett said snidely. "It needs a large bore needle to be effective, and I'm really needing someone to be a guinea pig. Are you volunteering Dr McKay?"

Rodney sputtered his denials and Beckett turned his attention back to the Colonel.

Through the exchange, the Colonel's head had turned from one to the other, like he was sitting centre court at a tennis match. He'd gathered from the tones of voice and the speed of the exchange that McKay and Beckett were probably having an insult exchange, but the words still made no sense at all.

Sheppard closed his mouth with a snap as his beleaguered brain finally started to try thinking again. This was _not_ good. He hadn't been delirious before…he _couldn't_ understand what they were saying. This was a nightmare, and one he didn't look like being able to escape from by simply waking up. He looked at Carson helplessly, his confusion and lack of understanding evident in his face, while his body slumped dejectedly.

"It's ok John, I know you can't understand at the moment, so just settle back there while I give you a check over." Carson soothingly said, patting the Colonel's uninjured shoulder gently, and reaching for his stethoscope in his pocket.

Sheppard gradually relaxed back into the pillow, allowing Beckett to make his examination. He listened tiredly as Beckett continued to speak soothingly to him, concentrating on the tone, rather the words.

He flinched when Beckett shone his penlight into his eyes, then closed them in response as the pain from his injured shoulder stabbed into him in reply. His headache answered his shoulder, and they both starting vying for the status of "The Biggest Ouch".

"Hmmmm," Carson mused, taking note of Sheppard's reactions. "Headache still there, and I'd say that your shoulder didn't like that jerk." He motioned Nurse Brown over to his side and issued her some quiet orders. She nodded in response and hurried off while Carson returned his attention to his patient.

"I'm going to run a few more tests, see if I can find out what's going on in that head of yours Colonel," he remarked conversationally.

"As if he just understood that," McKay snorted. "Why bother to explain things if he can't understand them, or even say anything? You might as well try sending up smoke signals, or using jungle drums…you know how to use them, don't you? I'm sure it must be a pre-requisite for your voodoo degree."

"Rodney, if you can't shut up, I suggest you leave. I don't need you to start telling me how to look after my patients," Beckett snapped back, eyeing McKay angrily. He saw from the corner of his eye that Sheppard's eyes had snapped open again at the change in pitch and volume of his voice, confirming his bedside manner.

"Well, my question still stands Oh Mighty Witch Doctor…why bother to talk to him when he can't understand you?" McKay blustered.

"Because Dr McKay, my tone of voice will at least give him something…let him know I'm here, and hopefully, that everything is ok," Beckett explained wearily. "He can't understand words, but he isn't deaf. In case it had escaped The Smartest Man in the Pegasus Galaxy's attention, he just now reacted to us yelling, so if you'll just be quiet for a bit, I'll try to settle him down again. His injuries don't need any extra movement, and if I have to start gluing him together again because of you, I _won't_ be happy."

McKay eased back into his chair, grumbling under his breath, and Carson turned back to face the Colonel.

"Ignore him lad, you know he's full of the proverbial," Carson said, making motions for Sheppard to settle back.

"I am not," floated quietly in the air, and Beckett smirked, Sheppard seeing it and raising his eyebrows in interrogation.

"It's ok John, he's just being his usual self," and he rolled his eyes. Sheppard looked at him, then at McKay, then back to the Scot, and managed a knowing smirk of his own. Some things apparently didn't need words to be understood.

--ooOoo--

**A/N: Thank you all for sticking with this story, I really appreciate all your comments, and thank you for bothering to let me know what you think.  
**

**I've had the common problem of RL interfering with my reading and writing time, both paid and volunteer work cutting into my computer time, and the current ongoing problem of trying to get my broadband service working...stupid provider! I won't even talk about the dead mouse that was stinking me out, and took 2 days to find...under the damn fridge! Urghhhh! **

** Anyway, I hope you like this chapter, and will continue to savour all your comments. Any constructive criticism, ideas, or corrections will be gratefully received. Thanks again, and enjoy.  
**


	9. Chapter 9

**Disclaimer: As per previous chapters.**

**A/N Thanks to all who have reviewed, you continue to inspire me. Thanks also to Nicol-leoraine for her beta skills. **

Chapter 9

The small family group of Bonyx grazing around the clearing surrounding the stargate threw their heads into the air as the chevrons began to engage. They grouped together nervously, snorting and pawing the ground, but as the wormhole activated with a whoosh, they turned and stampeded away, herding the youngest member of the group in front of them. Several monkey-like creatures in the trees at the edge of the clearing screamed a warning then huddled in anxious silence into hiding places amongst the leaves, watching to see what danger would result from the activity in the usually quiet clearing.

The glimmering puddle settled and as the moments passed, all was still. A barely perceptible ripple in the shining surface, followed by another a minute later was the only movement, then the gate shut down. The creatures gradually relaxed, as they saw no apparent threat, and resumed their interrupted breakfast of tree fruits.

--ooOoo--

"Stay cloaked Jumper 2, we'll head towards the village. Keep your eyes peeled for any of the natives, or any of the Genii," Major Lorne ordered.

"Yes sir," jumper 2's pilot acknowledged.

They proceeded cautiously on their way, quickly realising that using the Life Sign Detectors would gain them little advantage due to the huge amount of wildlife that lived in the area. Forested areas were dotted with small clearings, trickling streams and the occasional rocky outcrops, and nearly everywhere that they could see the ground, there was movement…birds flew around them, somehow managing to avoid smacking into the jumpers, the monkey-like creatures skittered wildly amongst the trees beneath them, and everywhere they looked, they saw Bonyx. What they _didn't_ see was people – either native or Genii.

"The village should be just over the next rise," Teyla said, and Lorne relayed the comment to the other puddle jumper.

"Jumper 2, hang back and circle the village, we'll go in for a closer look," the major said.

The occupants peered out of the viewports of the jumpers, looking for any signs of people, but instead were greeted with the sight of a destroyed village. Most of the huts were collapsed smoking ruins, and craters pockmarked the landscape beneath them.

Major Lorne cautiously landed the jumper in the centre of the village, as the second puddle jumper reported no signs of life in the immediate area.

"Ronon, Teyla! Take 4 marines and check the village out, the rest of us will cover you."

The hatch opened, and the reconnaissance team slipped out, instantly darting towards the few still standing huts and flattening themselves against the walls, weapons ready. They quickly fanned out in teams of two, checking each building or the remains of one, then moving on to the next.

They met at the end of the village, conferred briefly, then Teyla hailed the major.

"Major Lorne, it appears the village has been abandoned, there are no bodies left, and apart from the obvious signs of destruction, there are signs of a hurried departure. There are cart tracks heading towards the north-west."

"Do you think you can track the refugees?" the major asked.

"Yes," Ronon answered simply.

"Right, in that case, start tracking them, we'll follow you for support. Jumper 2, go back to the gate, and inform Atlantis of what's going on, then catch us up."

Hearing affirmations given to his orders, Lorne lifted the jumper up and started slowly following the tracking team, all the while keeping an anxious watch on the LSD and the surrounding countryside. Who knew where the Genii were?

--ooOoo--

John lay in his bed, staring at the ceiling. As long as he remembered not to move, most of his injuries stayed relatively quiet, the 'good stuff' Beckett gave him being quite effective. He'd worked out for himself that his major injuries seemed to be to his shoulder, his ribs and his head…and for some reason, to his throat…or more specifically, his voice. He remembered feeling something hit his neck at the same time he'd last seen Kolya, but didn't really know what it had been.

As he lay there, he could hear the reassuring tap-tapping noise of fingers on a keyboard. He knew without looking that McKay was there, but saw little reason to try to get his attention again. What was the point, when anything anyone said was just a jumble of meaningless sounds? He knew it was just him; that it was a result of his injuries, and he also suspected that it was probably connected to his head injury. The good part about that was that at least for the moment, the persistent headache had faded a bit, and was currently bearable.

Hearing footsteps approaching he turned his head minutely, and watched as Beckett approached him, a PDA in his hand.

"Ok Colonel, I think this might be the way to go," Carson said hopefully, as he walked up to him.

Halting beside the Colonel's bed, Carson paused briefly while he typed something on the PDA, then turned it to show John what he'd written.

Sheppard looked at the screen eagerly, figuring that at last, he'd have an idea of what was going on. It took a moment for his disbelieving eyes to actually realise what he was seeing, and his dismay was obvious to both Beckett and to the now watching McKay. He slowly brought his good hand up to his eyes and rubbed them, before looking back at the screen.

Chicken scratchings! Not English! Not French or Spanish! Not Hieroglyphics…not even Ancient, which he'd started to be able to recognize a little. _Chicken scratchings!_ That's what it looked like to him. A schizophrenic chicken had somehow got onto the PDA and had been madly scratching it up looking for the juicy worm it's pea sized brain had told it might be there. Squiggly lines, straight lines, dotted lines and broken lines, that's what his brain told him his eyes were seeing.

He closed his eyes tiredly, his face falling in defeat. The momentary excitement he'd had at the sight of the PDA now dropped him hard on his proverbial ass, and the disappointment rolled off him in waves. Opening his eyes again, he saw a similar look echoed in Beckett's eyes, and he watched as the doctor slowly put the PDA down on the next bed.

"Damn, I really thought that might have worked," Beckett muttered. He slumped down to sit on the bed beside it, and regarded the PDA with a disgusted look. Turning back to Sheppard, he saw the hazel eyes watching him. He saw the frustration, dejection, pain and worry in the prone Colonel's gaze, and tried to smile reassuringly.

"Well, we'll just have to think of something else," he said.

More footsteps approaching brought his attention to the doorway, and Elizabeth walked in to join them.

"How's he doing?" she asked.

"I'm keeping a close eye on his shoulder, it seems ok for the moment, but any excess movement could create a problem," Carson explained.

"I thought you 'glued' him together, why would movement be all that bad," Rodney said, moving to join them.

"Here, I'll try to explain," and Carson grabbed a protesting Rodney, turning him around and proceeding to explain the difficulties he'd had repairing the Colonel's shoulder.

Elizabeth and Rodney listened, trying to make sense of Beckett's explanation.

"Well, that's all well and good, but what about his being a vegetable, and not understanding us?" Rodney said snidely when Beckett paused. "I thought you said he should be ok when he woke up next. He can't even _read!_"

"The tests I ran a while ago show there doesn't appear to be any internal skull problems, so it would seem that his inability to understand us is just a by-blow of the concussion. I'm hoping it might be like a case of temporary amnesia…no actual problem I can fix, it just needs time to fix itself." Beckett sounded frustrated and perplexed at his diagnosis.

"I knew it! You really are a witch doctor, you have _no_ idea how to fix him!" McKay accused.

"Rodney!" Elizabeth and Carson spoke in unison, with similar exasperated looks on their faces.

"Well? He doesn't, and he just admitted it. That's what I keep saying, medicine is just so much hocus pocus, unlike _real _science, where there's a reason and answer for everything."

Sheppard watched them all closely, desperately trying to work out what they were saying. He felt a sense of loneliness creeping in, an eerie isolation that ate at his insides with icy bites. Here he was, surrounded by his friends, he couldn't speak to them, and he couldn't understand what they said. He felt very small and alone right now.

They continued talking, his only clues to what they were saying various gestures and facial expressions. Then suddenly, his attention sharpened. Carson had spun a vocal Rodney around, and was pointing to his shoulder, moving his finger in various motions while Elizabeth watched, glancing from them to Sheppard and back to them again. It looked like Carson was explaining something to them, involving Rodney's shoulder…_or perhaps his own!_

--ooOoo--

Sheppard watched in mounting excitement, as Carson then moved on to pointing at McKay's head, still speaking in a steady tone. It really did appear that they were discussing his injuries…and if so…maybe, just maybe…he sucked in a deep breath causing his ribs to stab at him. Perhaps he wasn't quite so alone after all.

Grabbing hold of the bed rail he gave it a shake, causing it to rattle fiercely, and watched as 3 pairs of eyes turned his way. Raising his hand, he began making motions with it, all the while with his eyes on Rodney's face. Rodney, Carson and Elizabeth watched mystified, but as he continued, he saw a dawning look of comprehension on Rodney's face.

"Tell me he's not doing that," Rodney said excitedly.

"Doing what?" Elizabeth answered.

Sheppard continued moving his hand, eyes boring into McKay's, who suddenly moved his own hand in response.

Sheppard nodded at Rodney, grinning for the first time since his return from the planet.

"Ah-hah!" McKay crowed in delight.

"What?" Weir and Carson asked, their question nearly lost under the gleeful noises McKay was making.

"He might not be able to understand us if we speak to him, or even if we write him notes, but it looks like he might just be able to understand sign language," McKay cried in delight

Carson and Elizabeth looked at each other in silence, then Elizabeth spoke.

"I know sign language Rodney, and _that_ isn't it!" she stated.

"Maybe not 'proper' sign language, no…but you haven't been on many missions Elizabeth. I have, and I've had to learn the ridiculous sign language that these military grunts like to use when they don't want to use radios." Rodney puffed out his chest, and looked all-knowingly at them both.

Carson's jaw dropped for a moment, then he closed it abruptly. His eyes showed his thoughts were racing.

"Try him with the correct sign language Elizabeth," he asked, and watched as she turned to Sheppard and began motioning to him.

Sheppard watched her a moment, then shook his head in frustration, before making some more of his own hand signs.

Rodney smiled at Sheppard, made some more motions, then turned to his watching audience.

"He doesn't understand the formal sign language Elizabeth," McKay explained in a superior voice, "but as I really don't know if he knows it in the first place, that may not be relevant. What _is_ relevant, is that he _does_ understand military sign language, probably because he's more flyboy grunt than normal person. It's like a battle language. All the shoot 'em up and blow 'em up types use it in combat when they have to be silent. There's really only basic signals, such as go, stop, down, quiet, see, numbers and so on. Plus there's a few we've had to invent ourselves, like a sign for the Wraith."

Beckett and Weir listened in amazement, as they heard more about how military personnel managed to do their jobs in silence and still be sneaky about it. As neither of them had ever been in that type of situation, they didn't know the signs themselves; instead, a 'babysitter' was usually the one who whispered them instructions.

Finally, Rodney stopped, and Elizabeth got a chance to ask the question she'd been wanting to since they'd made this discovery.

"So? What did he say just then?"

To her surprise, McKay suddenly blushed.

"Ummmmm…well….ummmm," he hedged.

"Come on Rodney, what did he say," Carson asked impatiently.

McKay muttered something under his breath, turning his eyes to the floor.

"Dr McKay, I didn't hear you," the Scot said forcefully.

Rodney flicked his glance over Elizabeth, then looked apologetically at Sheppard where he lay in the bed watching with bright laughing eyes, before turning to Carson.

"He said," McKay sighed heavily, "that he needs to have a pee."

--ooOoo--

**A/N I don't know if such an affliction as I've given John here is possible or not, but figured that as this is Science Fiction fiction, that I could probably get away with it. Bearing in mind that just about any doctor you ask will say the brain is a complex thing, who knows if it's really possible or not? If I've made a serious boo boo here though, I sincerely apologize, and ask that you simply enjoy the story. After all, this IS science fiction, lol. Enjoy.**


	10. Chapter 10

**Disclaimer: No, I still don't own anything at all to do with Stargate: Atlantis.**

**Thanks to my beta, nicol-leoraine. **

Chapter 10

After much experimentation, they'd worked out a few things. John could understand the military sign language, as well as very basic charade-type sign language. Anything more sophisticated than that was beyond him. And therein was the problem. The combat code was very basic, and didn't cover very many words or situations outside of military use; and there was a limit on what words could actually be acted out in a simplistic manner that was readily recognizable. It made for an extremely limited 'vocabulary' that left both the Colonel and his friends very frustrated.

Sheppard's initial feeling of excitement about his breakthrough had faded, as he realized for himself how difficult communication was still going to be. He knew the combat code, it was like second nature to see and understand it, but the over-exaggerated miming that the others had tried had him frowning in confusion. He'd never been particularly good at charades, in fact he'd hated the game the few times he'd played it, and had henceforth ducked all efforts to include him in it. Being unable to vocalise his guesses as to what Rodney, Elizabeth and Carson were trying to act out meant he had to concentrate fiercely, and that didn't ease his headache at all.

He closed his eyes for a moment, trying to collect his scattering thoughts, then opened them and again looked at the madly gesturing trio in front of him. What they were currently trying to tell him made little sense. Elizabeth kept holding up two fingers and jumping around the room, while Carson kept clasping his hands, then flinging them apart and pointing to him. Rodney made the most sense, he pointed to his eyes then held up two fingers, then circled his finger near his ear…now that one he got, and he suddenly starting laughing silently, his good arm trying to hold his ribs and shoulder still as they objected to the movement.

Elizabeth stopped trying to tell him she'd sent two puddle jumpers through the gate, and Carson abandoned his description of the Colonel being blown through the gate by an explosion. They both turned to Rodney in accusation.

"What's so funny?" Weir asked, simultaneously with Beckett's demand of "What did you just tell him?"

McKay smirked as he answered. "Oh, not much, just that the two of you are crazy."

"Dr McKay, I'd like to point out that we're trying to communicate with the Colonel here, and we don't need your irrelevant comments to confuse him," Carson said scathingly.

"Well, you'd better improve your attempts, because so far, your witch doctor skills are better than your miming skills," McKay replied nastily.

"At least _I_ am trying to tell him what happened to him," Beckett said indignantly, patting his chest in reinforcement. "Unlike some people who are only trying to irritate me. I still need a volunteer test subject you kn…"

Sheppard had been lying there, giggling to himself over Rodney's comment, and listening to the arguing voices. He couldn't understand the words, but from the tone, it was obvious that Rodney had made one of his typical statements, and Carson wasn't happy about it. His laughter stopped abruptly when he noticed Carson's gesture and his body tensed up as he glared wildly around the room. He grabbed hold of the side bed rail and rattled it commandingly, demanding their attention.

Beckett stopped talking and turned to look at him, as did McKay and Weir. The Colonel's eyes bored into Rodney's as he placed his hand over his heart, fingers spread. Rodney's eyes popped out of his head, and he began looking frantically around the room, fingers clawing wildly at his hip. Weir and Beckett also began looking around, but with confusion on their faces. They had no idea what was going on.

Sheppard angrily rattled the bed rail again, demanding they pay attention to him. McKay scurried over to stand beside the bed, looking anxiously at the Colonel, who again made the sign, then pointed at Carson, and raised his eyebrows in interrogation. McKay frowned for a moment, then suddenly his face cleared in understanding, and he patted Sheppard's good shoulder in apology. Shaking his head in the negative, he also made the sign and continued to shake his head.

Sheppard relaxed slightly as he realised what had happened. He'd been so intent on trying to understand their attempts at sign language, he'd been basically in military mode. When Beckett had unintentionally made the sign for Wraith, he'd reacted accordingly. He breathed a sigh of relief that he'd been wrong, but still managed to glare reproachfully at the doctor.

"What was that all about?" Beckett demanded.

Rodney was still a bit rattled, breathing quickly and noisily, his heart rate up.

"Oh, nothing much," Rodney said sarcastically, "you only told him that there were Wraith around, I simply can't imagine why that would get him wound up."

Beckett and Weir looked at him in stunned silence.

"It's just a suggestion, and I suppose you could always ignore it, but you might want to be a little more careful what sort of motions you make around him at the moment. Next you'll be telling him that the Genii are dropping in for tea and scones," Rodney continued. He was still trying to settle his jangled nerves after the incident. They needed the Wraith to drop in for a visit like they needed another Kavanagh.

"But…I didn't say anything about the Wraith," Carson objected.

"Yes, you did. When you patted your chest, that was very similar to the sign we use to indicate the Wraith, and with him relying on military signs at the moment, what would you expect him to do?"

Elizabeth and Carson looked at each other for moment, mentally trying to review what sort of signs they may have been making.

"Rodney, are there any other signs we should probably try to avoid?" Elizabeth asked.

"Well, I wouldn't go touching your neck too much around him," McKay said. "You'll get him really going if you tell him there's an Iratus bug hiding under the bed."

Carson blanched at that, throwing a glance at the Colonel in remembrance of the time he'd got up close and personal with the creature.

"You'd better show us all the signs Rodney, then at least we'll know how to say some things to him," Carson suggested.

"You probably wouldn't remember them. If you can't get your voodoo working right, there's no chance you'll tell him anything that makes sense." McKay's reply was said in his typical snarky fashion, a sure sign he was recovered from the fright Carson had given him.

Before they could continue, a noise drew their attention back to Sheppard.

Sheppard had moved his shoulder slightly in an effort to ease the abominable ache that was stabbing through him. He was rewarded for his efforts with a sharp stabbing pain that left him gasping for breath, his heart pounding in time with the beeping of the heart monitor. His headache found the rhythm and joined in, and he groaned silently, squeezing his eyes shut and desperately trying to keep his stomach from adding its two cents worth. Nausea rolled across him, and he knew it was a losing battle.

Opening his eyes, he saw the emesis basin in front of him just in time to aim at it as he began vomiting. Beckett steadied his good shoulder as he threw up violently, the whole time speaking quietly to him in a low voice.

It wasn't long before he'd brought up his stomach contents and was dry retching, and then finally he stopped even that, leaving him sweating, pale and exhausted. His shoulder felt like someone was using a jackhammer on it, and that same someone was stabbing an ice pick repeatedly into his head. He lay there, eyes shut, beginning to consider the merits of getting someone to shoot him when he felt movement near his IV, and then the coolness of something entering his veins. Drowsiness fogged his mind and he gratefully slipped into sleep.

--ooOoo--

Ronon and Teyla, flanked by the 4 marines flitted through the forest, tracking the people they sought. They could tell that the fleeing villagers had been travelling fast, their wagons heavily loaded. The tracks of the burden beasts were deeply indented in the soft loamy soil, and the ruts from the wagons were deep. They went cautiously, ever alert to danger. The Genii could still be here, and it was best to see them first, rather than last.

Ronon suddenly dropped to one knee, looking intently at the ground, before raising his head and staring searchingly around him, his features twisted into a fierce scowl. Finally he raised a hand to his earpiece and hailed the jumper.

"The villagers have picked up someone extra," he reported. "And that someone is wounded. There's blood here."

"Are there any indications as to how long ago they were here?" Lorne radioed back.

"About 2 hours ago, from the blood sign," Ronon replied.

Major Lorne considered the options. It wasn't long before sunset, and he didn't want to endanger his team by trying to keep going in the dark. On the other hand, there was the matter of catching up with the villagers and finding out about this 'floppy juice' that had been used on the Colonel.

"Do you think we can catch up with the refugees before dark," he asked Ronon.

Ronon considered the tracks, then the lowering sun and shook his head. "No, I don't believe so."

"Right," said Lorne, "we'll keep going until the light starts to fade, then we'll camp for the night. If we move out at first light, we might be able to catch up with them before they get too far."

Ronon acknowledged the order, then continued tracking. Teyla and the marines followed him, spread out to enable them to cover each other if the situation required.

--ooOoo--

Carson Beckett sat in his office, going over the Colonel's latest test results. While his shoulder looked quite good, and his head wound was closing nicely, there had been no change however, to his vocal chord paralysis or his comprehensive ability…he still couldn't speak, or understand anything that was spoken or written.

He sighed as he thought about Sheppard. The man just couldn't catch a break. If he wasn't getting bitten by giant bugs, turning into them, getting shot, blown up or beaten up, he could now add 'made mute by dart' to the list. He sighed again, running a hand through his hair, and realising how tired he actually felt. Looking at the clock, he saw it was after midnight. He leaned back in his chair, closing his eyes and trying to relax some of the tension in his muscles.

Breathing quietly and deeply, he listened to the 'Sheppard in the infirmary' hum that he'd felt ever since the Colonel had come in. He tried to 'tune in' to it, to see if he was only imagining it, or if it was actually there. As he sat there, he became conscious of another feeling, this one of curiosity, like a child regarding a stranger. He felt a sudden wash of surprise, then welcome, as if the aforementioned child had suddenly realised he was aware of being watched, and was happy to be his friend.

Beckett sat there in happy mental communion with what he was now convinced was Atlantis. He was unconscious of any time passing, and didn't realise when the gentle hum soothed him into sleep.

--ooOoo--

**A/N: Well, sorry this took so long, the original draft for this chapter went wacko after my sister gave me her idea of what should happen next (Thanks for that one Wendy, lol), so a major re-write was necessary. Add in R/L, and I've been madly trying to get it finished. Unfortuneatly, I'll be unable to update for at least a week, due to the fact I have to go baby-sit my friend's farm for a week, with no computer and no internet access. I will, however, take a pad and pencil with me, so will keep the goats giving birth entertained with my thoughts for the next chapter. I hope you enjoy this one, cya in a week.**


	11. Chapter 11

_Disclaimer: I don't own them, but it's my turn to play with them. Will return them when I've finished._

_Thanks to my beta Nicol-leoraine for her assistance, and to my sister Wendy, who added her own 2 cents worth, lol. _

Chapter 11

Major Lorne exited the invisible jumper, parked in a clearing in the forest. Dr Hoff, Ronon and Teyla were sitting together, finishing off their MRE's and watching the marines who were on guard duty. The remainder of the marines were tidying up their campsite, and getting ready to leave. It was dawn, the sky visible through the trees was streaked with red, and the visible clouds were puffy white balls of cotton wool.

They'd spent an interesting night in this clearing. The monkey-like creatures had continually tried to steal their equipment. There was apparently something about the bedrolls that intrigued the creatures, and more than one marine had woken to the feeling of his head falling from a comfy pillow to the hard ground. When chased, the creatures dropped their booty, and fled shrieking into the trees, where they sat high up on a branch and screamed 'monkey insults' at their pursuers.

Then there was the world title heavy-weight wrestling match that had apparently been held on the roof of Jumper 2. They hadn't actually managed to get a look at who or what the contenders had been, but from the sounds they made, they were big, heavy and very very pissed at each other. Any attempts the Atlanteans had made at 'refereeing' the match had been fruitless, as the creatures were also very agile, and always managed to disappear from view in a blur of movement that left the humans feeling slow and clumsy.

"Get ready to move out," Lorne ordered, watching as the marines hurriedly threw their bedrolls into the jumpers. Teyla and Ronon stood up, picked up their weapons from the ground beside them, and approached him, followed by Dr Hoff and the marines.

"Take Teyla and your cover team and resume tracking Ronon," he continued, "we'll follow in the same pattern as yesterday."

Ronon nodded, jerking his head at the same four marines who'd been with he and Teyla the day before. The four immediately stepped forward, weapons ready and looking very determined. As he and Teyla moved to the far edge of the clearing to resume tracking, the four fanned out, and disappeared from view in the undergrowth.

Dr Hoff followed Lorne into the jumper and took his seat, as did the remaining marines. They lifted off the ground and began slowly following in the trackers wake, while Jumper 2 circled them at about a half a mile radius. They had to fly above the tree tops, as the forest grew too thickly for them to be any lower. As a result, their view was relatively limited, and the LSD's were full of moving dots indicating life. After watching for a while though, they could make out the purposefully moving dots that indicated the tracking team, although any hope of spotting an ambushing force for example was extremely remote.

Major Lorne glanced back at the rear of the jumper, where Dr Hoff sat, intently studying his laptop, reminding the major of Dr McKay. His lips twisted in an ironic smile at the thought…he was sure Dr Hoff probably wouldn't appreciate the comparative thought. Turning back to the front, he resumed his study of the forest and the LSD, hoping he could see any trouble before it arose.

"Jumper Two to Jumper One." The radio call interrupted his thoughts and he sat straighter in the pilot's seat as he responded.

"Receiving you Jumper Two, go ahead."

"We're approximately a half a mile ahead of you, and we've discovered the native's camp. They're in a clearing slightly south-west of your heading, and appear to be readying to move on. I think they may be heading for that mountain that looks like a gorilla."

"Received that Jumper Two, maintain cloak and surveillance until we get there," Lorne ordered.

"Aye sir," the other pilot replied. "Jumper Two out."

"Jumper One to Ronon, did you copy that?" He tried vainly to pierce the canopy beneath him with his gaze, trying futilely to catch a glimpse of any of the tracking team.

"Yes," came the short reply, before Teyla broke in to the channel.

"We have just seen a sentry Major Lorne," she explained, "and are about to make contact with him. We shall update you on the situation very soon."

"Acknowledged Teyla. Standing by."

He slowed the jumper further, not wishing to overshoot the unseen team below in his haste to catch up with the villagers. It was another time where he could do nothing but wait…god he hated these times.

On the ground, Ronon, Teyla and the marines had spotted three sentries, sentries that hadn't been used before the attack on the village. Obviously the villagers were alarmed and weren't taking any chances. Conferring briefly, they decided Teyla would approach the closest sentry, a man who she vaguely recognised from the village, and who therefore may recognise her. Ronon would cover her from possible attack, while the marines would watch the other sentries, and keep an eye out for any ambush.

Standing up and moving to the centre of the trail, Teyla stopped out of weapons range of the sentry and called out. Instantly, he brought his bow up, an arrow nocked in the string, but he didn't fire. He studied her for a moment, before smiling at her and lowering his bow.

"Warrior Teyla, you are alive," he called, the relief and happiness in his voice apparent to all the team. He motioned her to come closer, before turning his head and making a strange cry. Answering cries came from the other sentries they'd seen, and some they hadn't as the cry was repeated by voices that stretched into the distance away from them, and towards the main camp.

Within moments it seemed, people started appearing, giving glad cries of welcome to Teyla. She answered them as best she could, while Ronon broke cover and joined her, motioning the hidden marines to stay where they were. Happy villagers, some of whom sported bandages and other signs of having been wounded, surrounded them.

Eventually, a commotion at the rear of the group heralded the arrival of the leader of the village with his family and his Council members.

"Warrior Teyla, Warrior Ronon, it is wonderful to see you both in good health! We are very happy to see you both again." The leader smiled at her in relief, bowing his head and touching his heart with his fingertips as per their custom.

"Leader Pek, it is good to see you as well," Teyla replied, returning his greeting with a smile. "We were concerned as to your welfare after the attack on your village. When we found your village deserted, we were very worried."

"Yes," Pek replied, his face darkening. "That was a very bad day, one which we will not forget. Some of our people died and many were injured."

"That is very unfortunate Leader Pek. May those who died be revered for their sacrifice, and those who were hurt recover soon." Teyla bowed her head in respect, which Pek acknowledged by touching his heart then his forehead.

"May we meet with your people? We have a very urgent matter to discuss that we hope you may be able to help us with." Teyla made her request quietly, her eyes now solemn, while Ronon's flashed with suppressed anger.

"Of course Warrior Teyla, please, come to our camp, we will help you if we can." Pek gestured to several men, who quickly ran off towards the camp, calling loudly as they went to assemble all the villagers.

"There are others who are accompanying us," Teyla said, "may they also join us?"

"Certainly," Leader Pek replied, "is Warrior Leader Sheppard here? It will be good to speak with him again, he proved himself to be an exceptional warrior on that dreadful day." He looked around, obviously trying to see the Colonel, but of course, not being successful.

Teyla's face twisted in anguish as she replied. "No, he is unable to join us at this time. However, another of our Warrior Leaders is close by, as well as one of our Healers. They wish to speak to you most urgently."

"Please, have them join us in the camp, we will convene the Council Ring immediately." Waving his arms, the leader turned and headed back towards the camp, his people following in his wake.

Teyla and Ronon joined him, waving the marines to follow, but to stay alert. Tapping her earpiece to open a channel, Teyla hailed Major Lorne in Jumper One.

"Major, they will speak with us, would you and Dr Hoff please join us?"

"Copy that Teyla, I'm landing the jumper in a smaller clearing on the north east side of the camp, about 400 yards behind a wagon with the blue cover. Perhaps you could meet us so we don't get shot by any nervous natives."

"Yes Major, we will meet you there in a few minutes. Teyla out."

--ooOoo—

It was with a strong feeling of déjà vu, although they didn't know it was called that that Ronon and Teyla once again sat in a Council Ring meeting with the villagers. However, instead of Colonel Sheppard and Rodney McKay sitting with them, it was Major Lorne and Dr Hoff. Jumper Two was circling the camp, still in stealth mode, ever alert to any further trouble from the Genii.

After introductions had been made, they explained what had befallen the Colonel during their running fight to the stargate, and his subsequent condition. To say the council was dismayed was an understatement. Anxious discussion immediately erupted amongst the villagers, the news spreading out of the Council Ring, and throughout the rest of the people.

Leader Pek looked at each of them, his eyes distraught, as the hubbub gradually died down.

"You are sure that it was as a result of the dart that Warrior Leader Sheppard is unable to speak?" he asked.

"Yes Leader Pek," Dr Hoff replied. "The dart itself was simply the delivery system for this substance which we believe may possibly be what your people refer to as "floppy juice". The Colonel's vocal chords are paralysed, and he cannot speak or make any sound at all. We need to get the antidote from you to give him straight away."

Pek looked stunned at the request. He turned to his councillors and began talking urgently with them, his hands waving in the air. They all began speaking at once, gesturing and raising their voices to be heard, until finally, one of them jumped up and rushed over to one of the wagons, quickly returning with an elderly man. He led the old man to a seat beside Pek, and gently assisted him to sit down.

"Elder Sitar, our friends require an antidote to the "floppy juice" for Warrior Leader Sheppard." Pek's voice was quavering. He was obviously extremely nervous about this, and Ronon's hackles rose in response. Turning his steely gaze from the leader to the old man, he saw him blanch, and the bottom dropped out of Ronon's stomach.

"We don't have an antidote," the old man stated, his shoulders hunching in trepidation. "The 'juice doesn't affect us, only the animals, so we don't need one."

--ooOoo--

Major Lorne's mouth dropped open at the revelation. No antidote! He turned dismayed eyes upon Dr Hoff, who sat in stunned disbelief, as did Teyla and Ronon.

"How can this be?" he asked.

"We do not know, we only know that any contact with the 'juice, either by touch or by a scratch does not affect us. It temporarily paralyses the animals however. One scratch and they just go all floppy and fall over. It only lasts for a short time, so we have to quickly catch and kill the animal before it recovers and runs away." Elder Sitar's voice was scratchy with age, but became firmer as he explained how the 'juice worked.

"How long does the effect usually last?" Dr Hoff asked, his brow furrowed in thought.

"That varies Healer Hoff, but a Bonyx is usually floppy for half a candle mark or so."

The doctor looked puzzled at the answer, and turned to Teyla and Ronon for a translation.

"It would be approximately half of one of your hours Dr," Teyla supplied, and the doctor nodded in thanks.

"That doesn't explain why the Colonel is still affected nearly a day later though," Dr Hoff mused. Turning back to Elder Sitar, he asked another question. "Is this reaction the same for every animal? Does it linger at all in any of them?"

"Only in the Chittii, which we rarely see and usually do not hunt," came the reply.

"The Chittii? What are they?"

"They are fairly large beasts, nearly as big as we are, very hairy with big ears and eyes. They stay in their own areas, and fight a lot with each other for mating rights and territory. They are also extremely private creatures, who do not like to be seen and usually disappear quickly as soon as they see people. Legends tell us that the Ancient Warriors brought them here as companions and left some behind when they departed."

The Atlanteans exchanged glances at this information. It appeared that perhaps the Ancients had a hand in the puzzle.

"What is the floppy juice made of, how do you prepare it?" the doctor's questions were fired rapidly, his anxiety with the situation beginning to show.

"We use the leaves of the Micor Bush. They are crushed to a fine powder, then we add water. This creates a paste, which we then anoint our hunting darts with. We do not need to use arrows, as just the smallest scratch is enough for our purposes," the Elder readily supplied.

A small seed of an idea was starting to form in the doctor's mind, but he needed more information.

"This Micor Bush, does it have any other uses?" he asked.

"No Healer Hoff, we do not use it for anything else. We have found no other use for it, and it is not edible to us. Most of the animals will eat it but only if they have to, they don't seem to like it…except for the Chittii. They will not even touch it for some reason. We do not know why."

"I think I might know, but I need to do some tests. May I have some samples of the plant, and is there any way to study a Chittii?" The doctor's excitement was palpable, and his companions perked up in response.

"Of course Healer Hoff," Leader Pek replied. "We will bring you some leaves immediately. As for studying a Chittii? You are extremely fortunate; one of our people has managed to catch a young one and keeps it as a family animal. I'm sure he will agree for you to look at it."

Pek motioned one of the warriors to him, and gave some orders. The man nodded, and ran off towards the back of the crowd of villagers.

The Atlanteans sighed in relief that some sort of action was being taken. Noticing this, the leader of the village gestured again, and food and drink was immediately offered to them.

"Please, have some refreshment. It will be a short time before things can be arranged. You must accept this hospitality whilst you are waiting."

"Thank you Leader Pek, we appreciate it very much," Teyla answered, as she sipped at the cup in her hand.

The talk turned to the attack, and Pek explained how they had managed to drive off those of the attacking force who'd stayed near the village and not followed the team to the stargate. There hadn't been very many, and the villagers had managed to kill all of them, although not without losses to their numbers. When things had settled down, they'd realised that the Atlanteans had left, but didn't know if they had survived or not. Deciding that it was dangerous to remain at their village, they'd hastily packed their belongings, and were heading towards some caves in the mountains, that could be defended easily, and from where they could make their decisions of what to do next.

On the way, they'd found a wounded man, one of the attackers, unconscious in the forest. Deciding that they needed information, they'd brought him along, nursing him to the point where they could interrogate him.

Ronon's eyes lit up with a savage glint at this news, and his muscles tensed. A hand on his shoulder brought him back to reality, and he glanced at Teyla's concerned face. Settling back with a low growl, he turned his attention back to Leader Pek's explanation.

"Our healer says he should wake up very soon. Once this has occurred, we intend to find out exactly what happened…and why." Leader Pek's voice had been friendly and congenial. Now it dropped to a low deadly tone, and his eyes turned to a menacing chill that silently promised the wounded Genii that he wouldn't like the discussion that would occur.

--ooOoo--

Carson awoke with a start. His heart was thumping loudly in his ears and he was gasping as if he'd just run 10 miles at full speed. Sluggishly, his mind tried to catch up with the rest of his body, as he realised he'd already stood up and was heading towards Colonel Sheppard's bed. Half way there, he suddenly starting running, and his mind suddenly snapped into focus, finally taking note of the urgent panicky feeling he had.

Skidding to a stop at the Colonel's bedside, he frantically scanned the various monitors still attached to the sleeping man, seeing nothing initially to cause his reaction. He saw from the corner of his eye, that Rodney had fallen asleep in the chair beside Sheppard's bed, his laptop perched precariously on his thighs and his head tipped back at an angle that was sure to give him a stiff neck when he awoke.

He studied the monitors again, and was about to take the Colonel's pulse when the reason for his panic made itself known. As if his presence was the only thing that was required, the heart monitor suddenly flatlined, and began screaming it's warning.

--ooOoo--

_A/N: Sorry for taking so long to update. Between helping out my friend with his farm, (including being there for 2 weeks out of 4), lack of computer access, the odd bushfire, and a serious bout of no inclination, I've been unable to post anything until now. Then the site has a hissy fit with no alerts etc, so I decided to wait until now to post. _

_Sorry also goes to the serious whump lovers amongst you, there's not a lot of Shep in this chapter, but with fingers crossed, the next chapter should make up for it._

_Please read and enjoy, I hope it was worth the wait._


	12. Chapter 12

**_Disclaimer: I don't own any recognised characters from the show, and I'm not making any money from this work of fiction._**

****

**_A/N: Thanks to my Beta, Nicol-Leoraine for her input, and to my sister for giving this chapter her thumbs up. _**

Chapter 12

Several hours later, Carson pushed through the OR doors and walked out into the waiting area of the infirmary. The waiting couple saw him run his hands tiredly through his hair before straightening and heading towards them.

"Well?" Rodney demanded. "What happened this time? Did the chicken sacrifice fail? Should you have tried a goat, or perhaps a horse?"

Beckett glared at McKay with a look that could have frozen the Pacific Ocean. He opened his mouth to reply when a gentle hand on his arm caught his attention, and he looked into the worried eyes of Dr Weir. His face lightened, and he heaved a sigh before speaking.

"The Colonel's heart stopped. I've had to put a temporary pacemaker in to keep it going while we figure out exactly what's going on with the lad, and what we can do about it. It should buy us some time for Dr Hoff and the team to hopefully find some answers, and get back here to Atlantis." Carson's voice was haggard, and full of frustration. He was _not_ happy about the current situation, but was at a loss as to what to do next.

Elizabeth paled. "A pacemaker?"

"Aye," Beckett sighed. "As near as I can determine, the floppy juice on the dart has been warring with his ATA gene. I think the gene had originally kept the effects in a small area, his vocal chords, but as time wore on with no relief, the juice began to win, and the Colonel's bloodstream carried the effects straight to his heart. As it's a muscle type relaxant, and the heart is a muscle…well, it caused his heart to stop. He's very lucky we had a heart monitor on him, otherwise…"

Beckett's voice trailed away, his thoughts turning briefly to his own 'early warning' system that had told him there was something wrong with the Colonel. Shaking his head, he turned his attention back to his explanation.

"We managed to start CPR on John straight away, and now that the pacemaker is in, it will keep his heart beating until the return of the team. They'll hopefully have some answers that will fix this problem."

"But weren't there any signs of this Carson?" Elizabeth asked. "He was doing quite well before, was there any warning that this might occur?"

"Yes," Rodney added, "didn't your crystal ball predict there'd be a problem? You really should trade it in on a new one, it must be broken or something."

Beckett sank into a chair, rubbing his eyes and waving them into the seats beside him.

"This entire situation is off the wall Rodney," he started to explain. "There are so many factors involved here, some we know about and some we don't. Any of them singly would be problematic enough, but combining them together makes for something that is entirely unpredictable."

He held his hand up, and began ticking off his fingers one by one as he listed the problems.

"One. Colonel Sheppard has been hit in the throat by a dart contaminated with something similar to a muscle relaxant. Two. He's sustained some serious injuries due to being blown through the gate, and landing in the gate room…notably, his head wound, cracked ribs and his shoulder injury. Three. His inability to understand speech or language. And now four – his heart stopping." Carson looked at his audience, noting the furrowed brows and pursed lips on Elizabeth's face, and the worried expression on Rodney's.

"I know these symptoms are all connected in some way," he continued. "Colonel Sheppard's head injury is most likely the cause of his speech and language problem. There's a medical condition known as Aphasia that is very close to the Colonel's symptoms, and this condition can be caused by a head injury. We don't actually know about his ability to speak or not, as the 'floppy juice' has interfered with any possible testing of that."

Beckett paused in his speech as a nurse approached him and handed him a steaming cup of coffee. He took it gingerly, and inhaled the aroma reverently before taking a long sip. Swallowing the coffee, he looked back at Weir and McKay.

"I don't know how far this floppy juice will go. It's possible it will end up affecting his entire body. Until he wakes up from the surgery, I won't know much more."

Rodney stared at the doctor for a moment, his expression changing rapidly. Fear and concern finally gave way to decisiveness as he got to his feet.

"I'm going to check the Ancient data base, there may be something there about all this. If the Ancient's ever went to this planet, they may have some information about the floppy juice." McKay stomped out of the infirmary, muttering under his breath and gesticulating wildly in the air

Beckett heaved a sigh as he watched the astrophysicist leave, then looked at Elizabeth. She quirked a worried eyebrow at him, then smiled slightly as she patted his arm.

"If there's anything that can help in the data base, Rodney will find it," she said.

"I know, I just hope it's in time to help," Carson replied.

--ooOoo—

Major Lorne watched as Dr Hoff carefully withdrew some blood samples from the Chittii the native had made a pet of. The animal was only about 6 months old, but was already as big as a Shetland pony. It looked vaguely like a chimpanzee in statue and general appearance, but it's facial features were closer to a panther than anything else he could decide on. Smooth fur similar to a dog's covered it's body, and this particular beast was amazingly friendly, curiosity being it's most prevalent characteristic…it watched everyone and everything with intensity, but seemed to want to be especially friendly to the Major. He was continually trying to fend the beast away.

The doctor placed the blood samples carefully in his pack, alongside the plant samples, and the blood samples some of the villagers had willingly supplied. These would be taken back to Atlantis for analysis, as he didn't have the equipment he needed for an in depth study of them with him. Shutting the pack, the doctor gave the friendly Chittii another scratch on the back, then straightened up and turned to Lorne.

"I've got enough samples to make an antidote I think," he said. "Going on our current information, this should be sufficient, but I would like to get some of the scientists to return here for more study of these animals, and the local flora and fauna. There may be some other things we should know about here. In the meantime, we should return to Atlantis as soon as possible."

"Agreed Doctor Hoff," Major Lorne replied, "I'll leave Jumper Two here for security while we return home. I'm sure Doctor Weir will want more studies done, so I doubt they'll be here alone for long."

The two men thanked the Chittii's owner for his assistance, and walked back towards the Council Ring where the remainder of their team waited for them.

Unobtrusively, Lorne opened a channel and spoke to the pilot of the stealthed Jumper, still circling around the camp.

"Jumper Two, we'll be returning to Atlantis, you stay here and keep an eye on things. Stay cloaked and stay sharp. We'll be sending more scientists, and more troops back ASAP. I'll also leave Sergeant Symonds here in the camp as a liaison between you and the camp."

"Aye Sir," came the simple reply.

"Warrior Leader Lorne, Healer Hoff, did you find the answers you seek?" Leader Pek asked anxiously.

"We hope so Leader Pek," Dr Hoff replied. "However, we would like some others of our people who specialise in animals and plants to come here to study things further. Would this be acceptable to you?"

"But of course," Pek replied. "Anything we can do to help, you have but to ask. However, we cannot guarantee that we will not be attacked again by these 'Genii' people."

"With your permission Leader Pek, I'd like to leave some of our warriors here in case they return, and I'll have some more return with our Scientists," Lorne said.

"By all means, Warrior Leader Lorne, we would be most grateful of any warriors you wish to bring here. The cowardly tepics who ambushed our village also attacked your people; it is only fitting that if they return you are able to assist in the annihilation of the miserable pelkas."

None of the Atlanteans were familiar with the strange words but they were clearly derogatory.

"In that case, we will depart now. Sergeant Symonds here will stay with you. Our other warriors are close by. If you require contact with them, please inform him, and he will call them." Major Lorne looked at Symonds as he spoke, and the man returned the look, nodding his understanding of the order.

"Excellent Warrior Leader Lorne, we shall pray for the success of your mission, and the recovery of Warrior Leader Sheppard. Until we meet again, be well." Leader Pek bid the team farewell, his councillors echoing his words.

The team departed the camp towards the Jumper, all their thoughts turning towards the well-being of their military leader, hoping they held the answer to his affliction.

--ooOoo--

"Incoming wormhole," the tech said to Elizabeth. "Receiving Major Lorne's IDC."

The shield lowered and seconds later, the puddle jumper slid quietly through the gate and into the gate room. The gate shut down as it began heading towards the jumper bay and Weir answered the radio call from Major Lorne.

"Yes Major, was the mission a success? Where is Jumper Two?"

"We believe so Dr Weir, Dr Hoff has some items to analyse, and I need to confer with you about another mission to the planet. Jumper Two remained behind for security reasons."

"Understood Major, please report to my office as soon as you've completed your post mission check. Weir out."

Elizabeth headed towards her office, her mind racing, trying to think of various scenarios that would require another visit to the planet. Pouring herself a cup of coffee, she settled in her chair to wait for the Major's report.

--ooOoo--

Consciousness came sluggishly, awareness slowly creeping in. Sheppard gradually became aware of sounds around him; an annoying beeping noise; muted voices, words indecipherable; a soft clacking from beside him. He lay still with his eyes closed, trying to identify each sound as his mind cleared away the fog of slumber. His sense of smell kicked in next, the smell of disinfectant and that other unique scent that always _had_ remained unidentified telling him he was still in the infirmary, while the subtle smell of aftershave combined with the clacking noise told him that Rodney was beside him. Satisfied he'd correctly identified his surroundings, he turned his attention to himself.

Memory kicked in, and Sheppard remembered flying through the gate room and hitting the steps, waking in the infirmary and finding out he couldn't understand what his friends were saying, and the attempts at sign language that ended with the military version being something he could use. After that, there was a fleeting impression of pain, then nothing.

He began doing a mental inventory, checking himself out to see how he felt. One of the first things he realised was that he now had the dreaded catheter to contend with.

'_Damn, something must've happened_, that_ wasn't there before,' _he thought to himself

A minute tensing of muscles told him his shoulder was still painful, and he told himself firmly to avoid moving it unnecessarily. His ribs ached familiarly…nothing new there then. Further consideration revealed a new pain on the left side of his chest, so with trepidation, he cracked open his eyes. Squinting from the glare of the overhead lights, he raised his head slightly, absently noting that his headache seemed to have mostly gone whilst trying to look at his body.

He couldn't see much due to the bandage around his chest, a heavy gauze pad just visible beneath it.

'_Ok, looks like something went on there too…my chest feels really weird, and it's aching under that bandage too. Something tells me that's not good.'_

Lowering his head again, he turned his eyes towards Rodney, who was oblivious to him as he concentrated fiercely on the screen of his laptop. Before he could get the astrophysicist's attention, a commotion towards the door caught his attention, and he turned his head to see Carson, Ronon and Teyla walk in, closely followed by Dr Hoff.

Carson busied himself checking Sheppard's vitals, while Rodney jumped from his chair and began quickly firing questions at the others. It was only a moment before Carson realised he was awake, and he smiled reassuringly at the injured Colonel, patting his shoulder gently and speaking in a soothing tone. Instantly the others moved to flank his bed, Teyla gently stroking his arm and Ronon nodding at him before leaning casually against the wall. Dr Hoff continued speaking to McKay, obviously explaining something, while Rodney nodded at intervals, and Carson interjected the occasional comment. Eventually, they finished the conversation, and Dr Hoff left hurriedly, waving briefly to Sheppard as he went.

McKay turned to regard the Colonel for a moment, then said something to Carson, who answered and then moved away from the bed, towards the small lab off the outer room. Sheppard gazed enquiringly at the scientist, who smiled knowingly at him, before looking back towards the returning doctor.

Switching his attention to the Scot, Sheppard saw he was carrying some things which he deposited on the end of the bed, before looking up to capture his gaze. Sheppard raised an eyebrow in enquiry, and the Scot smiled before reaching down to pick up a basin.

Pretending to put things into the basin, Carson made swirling, stirring motions over it, all the while watching the Colonel closely.

'_Hmphf…looks like he's trying to mix pancakes,'_ Sheppard thought to himself.

Seeing him nod in understanding, Beckett then showed him a syringe and pantomimed filling it from the basin.

'_Ok, not pancakes…something you'd put in a needle…_'

Looking again at Sheppard to see him nod again, Carson then moved to the man's shoulder, and pretended to inject the contents of the syringe into his arm, then opened his mouth and spoke the incomprehensible words the Colonel had been hearing all along, all the while pointing at John's neck.

'_Hey, looks like they have to cook a cure for me. At least they've apparently worked out what to do, this not being able to speak thing is really getting old.'_

It had taken a moment, but Sheppard worked out what they were trying to say. A broad grin broke out on his face at this news, and he nodded vigorously, slowing the motion slightly when a warning twinge from his earlier headache told him to settle down.

Looking around, he spied his water glass on the side table, and pointed his good hand at it, then at his mouth. Getting the hint, Teyla picked it up and handed it to him. Grasping the glass firmly he held it up to them in a silent toast, then sipped the cool water, savouring the feeling of it trickling down the back of his throat, until suddenly he no longer felt it, and in fact realised he couldn't swallow it either. He began choking and gagging, the glass falling from his hand as the water revealed its destination, and grabbed at the hastily offered emesis basin Carson shoved in front of him.

His swallowing muscles might not work, but his throwing up ones worked just fine he thought as he watched the water make a reappearance. Coughing and spluttering, he finally managed to stop trying to throw up his toe nails, and relaxed against the arms supporting him. Looking up at Carson's concerned face, Sheppard sighed heavily, and managed to look thoroughly miserable, while still retaining a faint aura of hope and fading elation.

'_Now I can't even have a drink! This just isn't fair.'_ Sheppard's face darkened in horror as he realised that Carson would probably have to insert a feeding tube if they couldn't make a cure soon. He hated those nearly as much as catheters. _'Damn Kolya! The next time I see that guy, it's gonna be down the sights of my P90!'_

--ooOoo--

**A/N: I'm really sorry I've taken this long to update, RL has had me hopping a lot lately, between helping at the farm, working and the bushfires down south in New South Wales...I was on the 1st Queensland Task Force sent south to help, so was away for nearly a week. Anyway, enough of the excuses, the chapter is now written and posted, I just hope you'll all forgive me for being so tardy, and will enjoy reading it.**


	13. Chapter 13

**Disclaimer: I don't any canon characters, and I'm not making any money from this...damn it! lol.**

**Thanks to my beta Nicol-leoraine for her seal of approval. **

Chapter 13

He lay still, his gasping breaths gradually calming to a normal rate, eyes squeezed tightly shut. He could feel Beckett adjusting various tubes and bandages, and giving him the 'once over' in general. Apparently the doctor was satisfied, as he finished up, and once again joined in the conversation going on around him, although not leaving the injured man's side.

However, Colonel Sheppard was starting to feel slightly sorry for himself. His injuries from his now famous (or should that be 'infamous' perhaps?) entrance into the gate room from the stargate were making him feel very miserable. It felt like a whole crew of hard rock miners had started work on his shoulder, and they were using a mix of blunt and sharp picks and shovels in their work. If he even twitched a muscle, they were joined by some renegade oil drillers, who were intent on drilling the deepest holes they could to help.

Of course, throwing up like he'd not long done had spurred all their efforts to greater heights, and the blasting crew had moved in, setting off charges randomly in the aforementioned holes throughout his shoulder until it felt like it had been dipped in acid. The exertion had caused his muscles to tense and spasm, and he fleetingly considered asking Ronon to drag out his blaster and just shoot him.

His headache had returned with a vengeance, making his eyes water from the pounding ache that threatened to make his head explode. Blearily opening his eyes, he closed them quickly when he realised that he was seeing double again…or perhaps even triple. He was sure there hadn't been that many people standing near his bed before. The noise level seemed to have increased as well, with all of the various people and their 'doubles' trying to talk at once, along with the beeping of the heart monitor. He grimaced as a shooting pain stabbed at him, making him think one of the drillers had decided to move to a new site behind his right eye.

Yep, he was definitely feeling sorry for himself, and if he was really being honest as well, he would also say he felt like crap. Deciding enough was enough, he knew it was time to bite the bullet.

Opening his eyes again as the stabbing died down slightly, he searched the babbling crowd surrounding him until he caught the 'Rodneys' glance. Raising his hand carefully, he made a few motions slowly and cautiously, finishing off with a pleading look. The Rodneys cocked their heads for a moment, and made an answering sign accompanied by an enquiring eyebrow raise. Seeing the motion in triplicate made him blink in dizzy confusion and Sheppard repeated the signs, then made another motion, pointing towards his own head and eyes. He saw the puzzled look in the Rodneys eyes turn to comprehension as they nodded, and turned to speak quickly to the Carsons who were standing beside him.

The doctors nodded, making a comment back to him before raising his voice to say something. An answering voice and movement at the rear of the group told him that some sort of action was taking place. Another stab behind his eyes had him closing them in response, whilst sucking in a breath that had his ribs reminding him that that wasn't such a great idea. He sensed movement beside him, then a slight tugging on the IV line, followed by a blessed coolness flowing through him.

Far too slowly, the miners called it a day and knocked off, the driller in his head taking his time before he too, finally decided to call it quits and leave. He sighed silently in relief, opening his eyes and giving a slight smile of thanks to his audience. The onlookers had shrunk back to single figures, and the lone Beckett who stood regarding him anxiously gently patted his arm in response.

All that time spent training Rodney in military matters was at last paying off, in a rather unexpected way. He'd apparently understood John's request for pain relief that wouldn't knock him out, and Beckett had complied. He desperately needed to be able to think, and now perhaps he could do so.

They resumed their incessant chatter, although at a quieter level, while Sheppard made an effort to collect his scattered thoughts and make sense of things. He wished he could join in the obvious discussion taking place, as he badly wanted to know exactly what was going on. The bits he'd worked out from the pantomiming and signs only gave him vague generalities, where he really wanted to know specifics…the type of information that could only be expressed by actual speech or writing, and understanding of such.

The frustration he was feeling about the circumstances was threatening to overwhelm him. He knew Kolya and the Genii were responsible for his current condition, both directly and indirectly. He had general information about his own condition, a lot of that from how he felt. He knew that his friends were trying to help him, both with his 'normal' injuries, and with the substance that had been on the dart.

What he didn't know was specifics…what had the Genii had planned? How had they even known the Atlanteans were on PB3-245? Was there a spy amongst the natives, or was it simply dumb luck? What, exactly, was his own condition, and how were his friends planning on helping him? The questions circled around his mind like the proverbial shark, closing in with a new query, then moving out again in an undulating, swirling wave that was starting to make him dizzy.

He couldn't understand speech or language, he couldn't speak, he couldn't express his own anger and frustration at the situation. He could only think. Sure, his team and friends were with him, but there was a wall between them, one that was currently isolating him from them, leaving him alone inside his own skull…a skull that wasn't working to its best capacity at present.

As the conversation continued around him, he felt more and more that he was cut off, isolated, and as both a human being, and the military CO of Atlantis, that was very hard to swallow. He snorted to himself in medicinal induced laughter at the dreadful pun he'd unwittingly thought, the slight tone of hysteria peeking through to nudge his awareness. Oh yeah, those were definitely the good drugs Beckett had given him.

Abruptly, he became aware of a strange feeling in the pit of his stomach, a feeling that stretched towards his heart, and felt different from the other aches and pains he'd been feeling. Considering it carefully, it still took him a few moments to work out what it was…he was lonely!

--ooOoo--

Carson straightened up after helping Colonel Sheppard settle back following his abortive attempt to have a drink. He chewed the inside of his cheek in dismayed thought while trying to keep a positive look on his face, but the underlying anxiousness showed in his eyes as Sheppard lay gasping for breath. He saw the fleeting look of horror on the injured man's face, and followed his thoughts effortlessly. He too hoped a feeding tube wouldn't be required.

Beckett busied himself checking the Colonel's vital signs, fussing over the various tubes, bandages and monitors, and making sure there had been no further damage done to the unfortunate man. Finally satisfied, he returned his attention to the discussion going on.

"…and the natives do not know of a cure for the floppy juice," Teyla was saying.

Rodney shook his head at this information. "How could they use something for which there isn't a cure? What if they weren't careful handling it, and scratched themselves? What sort of idiots are they?" he asked.

"The floppy juice does not affect them, and it only affects the animals they hunt for a short time, so there is no need. However, they told us of an animal that inhabits the planet who is affected by it, and Dr Hoff collected samples to study. He is hopeful of creating a cure for Colonel Sheppard." Teyla's face reflected her optimism with this statement, which temporarily replaced the worry for their team leader.

"Well, isn't that just great," Rodney scoffed. "The simpletons use something they don't know everything about, and now we have to hope the local Voodoo Club can come up with a magic potion to fix it."

"Rodney!" Beckett said warningly, his eyes glinting dangerously at the physicist.

McKay shrunk back behind Teyla, grumbling under his breath. His own searching in the database had so far yielded little information that was helpful, and he was feeling antsy and helpless as a result. His natural defence to this was to start talking, and not always nicely either. He should probably go find some of his scientists, so he could really let off some steam. They didn't have access to large pointy needles and similar devices of torture.

He went to move towards the doorway, but a low warning rumble brought his attention to Ronon, who leant beside the door with his arms folded. The Satedan was glaring at him fiercely, and was obviously not about to let him leave just yet. Sighing in resignation, Rodney turned back, picked up his laptop and looked around for the best place to set himself up for some more research.

As his eyes moved around the room, he saw Sheppard looking at him piercingly, obviously trying to attract his attention. Seeing he'd got it, the wounded Colonel slowly made a few signs with his hand. Rodney frowned and cocked his head, for a moment not sure he'd understood the signs correctly. He made the sign for 'repeat' and closely watched Sheppard make the signs again, and pointing to his head. It took a moment for the meaning to sink in, but when it did, McKay nodded in understanding and turned to Beckett.

"He must be worse than we thought, he actually asked for some pain relief that will allow him to see! That can't be right, he's not blind. Maybe he meant he wants to stay awake? Got anything like that in your book of magic potion recipes?" Rodney still hadn't forgiven the doctor for the last threat he'd made.

"Of course I have, right beside the one I use for shrinking heads." Carson shot Rodney a sarcastic glance, before raising his voice to the nurse on the other side of the infirmary. "Julie, could you bring me that syringe I prepared for the Colonel earlier please? I don't really want to knock him out just yet, he needs to try to stay awake for a while, so this is just the ticket."

"Yes Doctor Beckett," Julie replied, and hurried over with the requested medication.

Seconds later, Beckett was emptying the syringe into the IV, noting the tense body and the scrunched shut eyes of the wounded man. He waited for several minutes, before seeing the pain lines in the Colonel's face gradually start to relax as the medication did his job. Finally, Sheppard opened his eyes and sighed in relief, and the doctor patted his arm in acknowledgement.

"So, you obviously passed 'Potions 101', how about 'Remedies for Dummies'?" Rodney just couldn't stop himself from saying.

Carson turned his eyes to Rodney, silencing him with a glance before quietly asking Teyla for more details of what they'd found out on the planet.

Teyla resumed her narrative, interspersed with the occasional word from Ronon. At the news that Lorne was going to request a further study team be sent to the planet, Beckett nodded in satisfaction.

"We definitely need as much information about this as possible," he said. "Dr Hoff is going to take a while to analyse the samples he's got, so any further information will be extremely helpful. Rodney, do you think you can find any more details in the data base?"

Rodney nodded. "Yes, I believe there's more to find, I just haven't found it yet."

"Right then, I'll leave you to that, I'm going to assist Dr Hoff. We need to sort out the Colonel as soon as possible, I'm not liking the way the paralysis is spreading. He really doesn't need a feeding tube or being on a ventilator on top of his current problems." Carson started moving towards the door, stopping briefly to give some quiet orders to Julie before leaving the room.

McKay exchanged a wordless look with his team members, before clasping his laptop to his chest and following Beckett out the door. Teyla and Ronon moved in harmony, without even looking at each other, knowing exactly what each of them was doing. Teyla sat down in the chair beside the Colonel, smiling encouragingly at him, while Ronon dragged a second chair over to the bed, slouching down in it comfortably and propping his feet up on the mattress. They would keep him company.

--ooOoo--

Elizabeth Weir watched as three more jumpers moved one by one through the stargate, heading back to PB3-245, loaded with various scientists, equipment and heavily armed marines. It hadn't taken long for the decision to send another specialised team back to the planet to be made and approved. Besides the overwhelming need to find an antidote for the Colonel, there was the knowledge that the Genii might still be lurking around, and the current and future relations with the natives to all consider. Throw in a possible link with the Ancients, and there was nothing short of a full blown Wraith attack that could really force her to say 'no'.

Leader Pek and his people seemed to be worthwhile trading partners, and were certainly doing all they could with their limited resources to help the Atlanteans. She fully intended to be just as helpful to them if it was possible. The sample Bonyx meat the team had brought back had been met with ecstatic cheer in the mess, and her own tastebuds had gone into minor rhapsodies.

"We're through Dr Weir," Major Lorne's voice came over the radio. "No sign of any problems at this stage, we'll contact you again at the scheduled check in time."

"Copy that Major, we'll be waiting. Weir out." She closed the connection, but stayed staring at the wormhole for another moment, lost in thought. The wormhole closed, and she finally brought her mind back to the present. Nodding to the gate tech on duty, she turned and headed towards the infirmary. It was time she found out the latest information about her military CO.

--ooOoo--

Dr Zelenka paused at the infirmary doors, wondering for about the fourth time if his idea would be received with applause or derision. Hearing about the Colonel's condition and his lack of ability to understand people had reminded him of a time when he couldn't speak English, and had had to improvise. Knowing if he mentioned it to McKay he'd no doubt be on the receiving end of a verbal tirade, he'd said nothing as he'd prepared a program on his laptop. Now he was hoping to sneak past the Canadian physicist and get to Dr Beckett with his plan.

Taking a deep breath, he stepped forward, the doors opening for him, and he quickly sidled in and looked around. Seeing no one, he headed towards the ward, and peeked around the corner towards Sheppard's 'usual' bed. Sure enough, he was there, but with only Teyla and Ronon with him, and a nurse at the other end of the room…neither Dr Beckett nor McKay were anywhere to be seen.

With another quick look around, he straightened up and headed towards his objective. Ronon opened an eye as he approached, warning him silently that his presence was noted, and he smiled nervously.

"How is Colonel?" he asked, holding his laptop in front of him like a shield.

At his question, Teyla turned to smile at him, while Sheppard also opened his eyes to see the new arrival, managing to give a small wave with his uninjured hand.

"He is still unable to understand us Dr Zelenka," Teyla replied. "The paralysis seems to be spreading, but Dr Hoff and Dr Beckett are trying to make a cure for him."

"Ah, I see." Zelenka nodded, then looked at his feet, shuffling them nervously. "Um…have idea…for communication…to help Colonel."

Ronon's feet hit the floor with a clump as he sat up straight, and Teyla smiled at the Czech scientist warmly.

"That is good news Dr Zelenka, what is your idea?"

"This," he replied, setting his laptop down on the bedtable and opening it. He typed a few commands, then turned the screen towards Sheppard, motioning him to look.

Sheppard squinted at the screen, waiting while his eyes refocused, until finally, he made out what was on the screen. It was a cross between a slide show and a home movie, and he watched it in growing amazement as he realised it was telling him some of the answers he'd wanted to know.

He saw a photo of the dart, then Kolya and some Genii, an explosion of some kind…the show continued. There were photos they themselves had taken of the planet, a jumper, then Dr Hoff and Dr Beckett, the latter in surgical scrubs, followed by some showing individual pictures of Major Lorne and several scientists he knew. His eyes grew wider as he realised that Zelenka had put together a picture story of what had happened, which nicely filled him in on a lot of blanks.

Zelenka watched anxiously, darting glances between the screen and Sheppard, and saw the dawning comprehension on the wounded man's face. He relaxed as the Colonel finally smiled at him and gave him a thumbs up. Smiling himself, he waited until the show finished, then stopped it, and typed a few more commands. Turning to the Colonel, he held up a finger to get his attention, then proceeded to demonstrate his next idea.

There were various pictures on the screen, jumpers, members of the expedition, animals and many others. Watching Sheppard closely to see if he could understand, Zelenka moved the mouse over a picture of a jumper then pressed 'enter'. A new screen came up, with that picture only on it. Pressing the back arrow took him back to the original page, where he then selected a picture of Major Lorne and again pressed 'enter'. The new page now had both pictures on it. Returning to the first page again, he then selected a group picture of some marines and added it to the new page. Continuing on in this manner, he finally showed the Colonel the finished page.

Sheppard stared at it for a moment, recognising Lorne, a group of marines, a jumper, Leader Pek and some of his people, the two Doctors, and then finally a picture of himself, standing in front of the open star gate, waving jauntily at the camera.

Teyla, Ronon and Zelenka all held their breath as they watched the Colonel. The wheels going in his head were almost visible as they saw him work through what he was seeing to it's conclusion.

Suddenly a huge grin lit his face, as he realised the answer to the puzzle he'd just been presented. Gesturing at the laptop, he continued grinning as Zelenka hurriedly pushed it closer to him, and opened a new page, then returning the screen to the picture page.

Teyla wound the bed head up a bit so he could see what he was doing, and a concentrated frown replaced the grin as he carefully began scrolling through the pictures, looking for what he wanted. He ignored the various aches and pains that woke up with his movements as he finally found what he'd been looking for. Selecting a picture, he squinted at the keyboard a moment before stabbing the enter key with a shaky finger, and watching the picture come up on the new page. With an effort that left him panting and dizzy, he labourously added a few more pictures, before turning the screen back towards his audience.

They looked at the screen a moment, working out his meaning, before Teyla laughed in delight, Zelenka clapped his hands and Ronon smirked in ferocious agreement while ominously cracking his knuckles.

The noise brought Nurse Brown over, and Doctors Hoff and Beckett out of the lab at a run. They regarded the scene in amazement for a moment, before Sheppard managed to gesture at them, then the laptop screen.

Still glaring at the group suspiciously, Beckett and his staff looked at the displayed pictures…Ronon with his blaster, Teyla with her sticks, Sheppard himself during a hand-to-hand training fight, Rodney working on a DHD…and last but not least, a picture that Zelenka had organised just for the occasion…a recognisable cartoon of Kolya with two black eyes and a split lip, blood pouring out of various wounds that were from the upright sharpened sticks poking out of him, and a missing front tooth. Broken horns similar to those from a cow spouted smoke from each side of his head, one pointing up while the other dangled brokenly. A spiked tail broken in several places trailed behind him and his hands were protectively over his head, echoing the frightened expression on his face.

A giggle started with Nurse Brown, quickly followed by a strangled sounding snort from Dr Hoff. Carson glared at both of them, but couldn't keep it up. His lip twitched and he suddenly started shaking, finally opening his mouth to start roaring with laughter. The group dissolved into an hysterical mob, laughing, giggling and roaring in turns until tears streamed out of their eyes, and Sheppard had to close his own because of his protesting injuries.

It was into this scene of hilarity that Elizabeth Weir walked.

--ooOoo--

**A/N: A huge thank you to everyone who has read and reviewed, I really get a buzz from all the feed back. I'm sorry for not updating sooner, RL has once again interfered with my writing, but you can all now relax and hopefully enjoy this chapter. Fires are still burning down south, and I may be heading that way again before the end of the month, although I don't know for sure at this time.**

**If anyone has any ideas about this story, please feel free to PM me, I'm starting to worry that I've written myself into a corner.**

**Thanks to reyclou for your helpful comments, also to sherryw for the idea about the pictures. I took it and ran with it. **


	14. Chapter 14

**Disclaimer: If you recognize a character from the show, I don't own them...if the name is new, it's possible I do, lol. Otherwise, not mine, no money made...damn it!**

**A/N: Thanks to Nicol-leoraine for her stamp of approval **

Chapter 14

Dr Weir looked in stunned amazement at the group of hysterical people. They were laughing so hard their eyes were tearing, and both Teyla and Carson were holding their sides. Sheppard was grinning like a loon even though his eyes were closed, and as her eyes fell on Dr Zelenka, he flushed a brilliant crimson while continuing to giggle.

Finally she could keep quiet no longer.

"Is something funny?" she asked, raising an eyebrow in inquiry.

The innocent question brought on renewed hilarity, until finally the group started to settle down, although intermittent giggles and snorts continued to be heard. Zelenka gulped several times, his voice leaving him, until finally Teyla took pity on him and explained what had happened. She turned the screen of the laptop towards Weir while narrating the story, and Elizabeth's eyes followed the pictures on the screen in fascination. She easily understood the significance of the slideshow, and when she saw the final picture, she looked up, to see the hazel eyes of Sheppard watching her, a glint in them revealing his unrepentance of his 'story telling'.

She laughed herself, joining in with the snickers that were still rippling around the room, before she had a thought. Considering it briefly, she realised the diplomat in her wouldn't allow her to really agree with the notion of beating Kolya up, but there was one thing she felt comfortable doing to him. Smirking at Sheppard in agreement, she pointed to herself, then to the screen, then made a pinching motion, which had the Colonel frowning briefly, before once again breaking out into fits of silent laughter.

It didn't take any of the onlookers long to figure out what she meant, and the mob once again broke down into laughter.

Finally however, even laughter has to stop, and they all settled down. Zelenka left, on his way to see if he could help Rodney, cheered that his idea had been so well received. Dr Hoff returned to the lab to continue his tests, and Carson proceeded to check his patient, assisted by Julie. Sheppard's team mates stood back, within his line of sight but out of the way, talking with Elizabeth and explaining things in more detail.

At last, Beckett stood back and looked unhappily at Sheppard. He knew his decision wouldn't be popular with the military CO, but there really wasn't any help for it. Quietly issuing some orders to Julie, who nodded and left the room, he turned towards the waiting people.

"You'll have to step outside for a bit I'm afraid. I have to give the Colonel a feeding tube, and I'm sure he doesn't want you watching this. I'm also going to sedate him, so you might as well go and get something to eat, he'll be asleep for a while after I'm finished."

Their faces fell as the meaning of the procedure sank in.

"You mean, he's getting worse?" Weir's face paled, and Teyla's eyes widened in response to Carson's statement.

"Yes and no. We're no closer at this point to finding an antidote to the floppy juice, and I need to get some nourishment into him. He needs to keep his strength up, and with his ability to swallow now compromised, he can't eat. Unfortunately, this is the only way." Carson's eyes flicked down to Sheppard, then back up to theirs.

They nodded in understanding, stepping aside as Nurse Brown returned with a tray containing the things he'd need for the procedure. Waving good bye to Sheppard, they exited the room, heading towards the mess hall and some food.

Sheppard watched as they left, figuring something was up from the way Carson had spoken to them, and from the looks he was receiving. He switched his attention back to the doctor, who was in the process of injecting something into his IV.

'_Oh-oh, this doesn't look too good,'_ he thought. Frowning, he raised an eyebrow at the doctor, who patted his arm, then looked apologetic.

Tipping the tray slightly to show the contents, Beckett then proceeded to pretend to put something in his mouth, chew then swallow. He pointed at the Colonel and shook his head.

'_Yeah, I know I can't eat anything,'_ Sheppard thought in puzzlement. Looking at the tray's contents, then the unhappy look on the doctor's face gave him the final clue to put together what was about to happen.

'_Oh great, feeding tube time. Just what I needed to round off the perfect day.'_

Sheppard's face grimaced in understanding, and Beckett again patted him on the arm. He then pointed at the Colonel, then raised his hands together under his cheek, cocked his head on the side and closed his eyes and made snoring sounds. Opening his eyes again, he gave an enquiring look, to which Sheppard nodded wearily, even as he felt his eye lids starting to get very heavy, and his brain to slow down.

'_Oh well, at least he's knocking me out while he does it. Being awake for this would definitely be a downer.'_

Closing his eyes, he settled himself as comfortably as he could, resigned to yet another thing to annoy him. His last coherent thought was reserved for Kolya.

'_If Rodney's right, and Carson really IS a voodoo doctor, I wonder if I could...get him to make me a Kolya doll...and to give me some big needles. I think...Kolya would look...kinda good...as a pincushion.'_

--ooOoo--

Dr Hoff sat back on his stool and stretched his neck muscles, feeling the tension start to ease. He'd been working non stop for hours, testing the samples he'd collected from the planet, and it was catching up with him. The frown on his face deepened as he continued to consider his findings, and he rubbed thoughtfully at the stubble on his chin. Abruptly, he leaned forward, once again comparing the test results in front of him. No, he hadn't been mistaken. Reading it through once again, he finally sighed, and lowered the report back on to the table.

Tapping his radio, he opened a channel.

"Dr Carson, Dr Weir, could you join me in the lab please?" he requested. "There are some things I need to show you."

--ooOoo--

Major Lorne looked in stunned silence at the doctor standing in front of him. They were in a small encampment where the jumper had originally landed outside the village, and the group of scientists had been busy sampling and testing anything that their eyes fell on. So far, most of the available results had been relatively 'normal', but this particular doctor had had a different set of tests to run. The man had an apologetic look on his face, and was wringing his hands together in agitation.

"You must be mistaken Dr Herbert," he said.

"No, I'm not. There can be no mistake, and I'm sure if you contact Atlantis, and Dr Hoff, you'll find he's reached the same conclusions that I have." The scientist shrugged his shoulders. "I can't explain it at this point, but the results are quite clear."

Lorne huffed out his breath in an explosive gust of frustration. "Well, what do you want to do next then?"

David Herbert relaxed his stance slightly as he realised his explanation had been accepted by the Major, and turned his thoughts to his next course of action.

"I need to collect more samples for testing, and I need to speak further with the villagers. There has to be an answer to this development, and they are the keys to it…they may simply not realise it."

"Right," Lorne replied. Turning to regard his available men, he quickly gestured to the Sergeant standing closest. "Sergeant Morrison, take three men and escort Dr Herbert to see Leader Pek, keep a sharp eye out and report anything out of the ordinary. I'm going to contact Atlantis, and report the doctor's findings."

The marine saluted, then gestured to three others, who nodded and hefted their weapons, before falling in behind him. The doctor gave them a brief glance before quickly grabbing the equipment he thought he'd need, then nodding to indicate he was ready.

"Let's go," Sergeant Morrison said, and he moved out taking point, while his men fanned out, one to either side and the last at the rear, taking up the points of a diamond and leaving Dr Herbert to walk in the centre.

--ooOoo--

Elizabeth stood by silently watching until Dr Beckett finally looked back up at Dr Hoff, after reading the test results and comparing the slides he'd been studying.

"If I wasn't seeing this, I wouldn't believe it!" he exclaimed. "Do you have any idea how this could happen?"

"Not exactly, but it can't be a coincidence. I'm almost willing to bet that the Ancients might have had something to do with it as well. The cause and effect simply _must_ be connected, and I doubt it's something that the natives would have discovered by themselves. Besides, they've already stated that they're 'immune' to the floppy juice…they obviously have no idea of what is really going on."

"Well, it explains why the Colonel has been affected the way he has, but this additive is completely new to me. I've never encountered anything like it before." Carson's voice was tired and frustrated.

Weir stirred from her position near the door. "Do you think you can manufacture an anti-toxin from the blood samples, without knowing more about this additive?"

"No, I don't believe so Dr Weir," Dr Hoff replied. "The trace amounts found in these samples are enough to identify the additive's existence, but are far from enough to really study it. We must find out its origin, and study it further before we can even hope to develop something that could help Colonel Sheppard."

Beckett nodded in agreement, just as Elizabeth raised her hand to her radio.

"Weir," she said.

"Dr Weir, we've just received a message from Major Lorne. Apparently Dr Herbert has discovered something very strange about the natives and the floppy juice."

Motioning to Beckett to open his own channel, Weir replied to the gate tech. "Go ahead, Dr Beckett is listening."

The tech repeated his message, and Beckett nodded in resignation.

"Ach, let me guess…the natives have the ATA gene, and there's an unknown element in their DNA that neutralizes the floppy juice?"

Silence greeted his statement for a moment.

"How did you…" The man's voice trailed off.

"We've just worked that one out for ourselves," Beckett replied. "Apparently, there's a strange element to be found in the natives, both in their bloodstreams and their DNA. The samples from the Chitti don't have the additional element, but _do_ include the ATA gene. This would indicate that the natives aren't actually 'immune' so much as they're 'vaccinated' against the floppy juice. Now we just have to figure out how!"

"Major Lorne reports that Dr Herbert has reached the same conclusions, and is currently on his way to speak with Leader Pek and his people further, and to collect more samples for further testing."

"Do you have any ideas on how this vaccination could be accomplished? These people obviously don't have sophisticated medical supplies, so an actual needle full of antidote couldn't be administered." Dr Weir's voice was full of frustration as she questioned the two medical doctors. The whole situation was getting more and more complicated, more and more questions being raised, but few answers being found. And during the entire process, her military CO was in the infirmary, injured, becoming paralysed by floppy juice, and not understanding a single thing that was said to him.

"Not yet," Beckett replied, "but hopefully Dr Herbert will be able to shed more light on this soon." Turning his attention back to the open radio channel, he continued speaking. "Please ask Major Lorne to tell the doctor we need as many samples from the natives as possible."

"It might also help to talk to that old man again, Elder Sitar, perhaps there's something in their stories and legends that may help identify this element," Dr Hoff added.

--ooOoo--

Rodney McKay charged through the corridors of Atlantis, his laptop under his arm, hand waving wildly in the air, his thoughts going a million miles an hour, and his mouth even faster if that were possible.

"No, no, no! You're an imbecile Smithson, I'm surprised you even managed to graduate from preschool let alone gain a doctorate! It's totally impossible that you'd have the brains to even _think_ about something like that, let alone actually manage to _do_ it! It would take a genius, something which you're obviously not, and I just as obviously _am _to sort this out. Now leave it alone, before I dial the gate and shove you through to someplace nice…like the middle of a supernova! McKay out!"

Rodney closed the channel irritably, muttering under his breath about nincompoop undergrad scientists as he entered the transporter and the doors closed. Seconds later and on another level of the city, another set of transporter doors opened, and he emerged still muttering and stalked down the hall until he reached the doors of the medical lab.

As they opened, he entered quickly, plonking his laptop down on the closest bench top, opening it and scrolling rapidly through the data he'd found. Barely even looking at his audience, he started talking to the startled doctors who'd turned at his entrance.

"Well, the Ancients were definitely playing around on that planet," he began without preamble. "According to the database, they started a small colony of their own there, along with a few hundred people of various cultural backgrounds…" Rodney broke off as he looked up and saw the flabbergasted looks on the faces of Dr Hoff, Elizabeth Weir and Carson Beckett. "What?" he asked.

Beckett shut his mouth with a snap. "Nothing Rodney. Please go on, it's possible we've finally got some answers now."

McKay tossed his head in annoyance. "Well of _course_ you've got some answers now, _I've_ found the relevant files in the Ancient database. If you'd shut up long enough, I _might_ even enlighten your inferior minds as to what I've found."

McKay was in full snark mode, the underlying stress of Colonel Sheppard's plight sharpening his tongue as it tried to keep up with his mind. Weir raised an eyebrow at Rodney's diatribe while Dr Hoff sighed quietly and eased back onto his stool, glancing at Beckett who was now glaring at the physicist.

"Rodney…" Carson's voice was quiet, his tone icy, catching McKay's attention as sure as a slap on the face.

"Um…well…yes…" Rodney faltered slightly before visibly calming down to his more usual manic self.

"I've found the files in the database. The Ancients lived on that planet, which they called 'Perla' by the way, for several generations before most of them left. According to the information I've found, some of them liked it there, so they stayed. Of course, they also managed to…uh…_contribute_ to the population gene pool, so it's more than likely that some of the natives we've met could have the ATA gene." He paused in his narrative, glancing back and forth between the two medical doctors who were nodding in understanding, and Weir who simply continued to look at him.

"Now, the floppy juice was something they discovered fairly quickly, but they also found out the drawbacks of handling such a substance. Naturally, the original settlers from other worlds had no trouble with it, but the Ancients did, so they set to work to find a 'cure' for the effects. They didn't want to chance anything going wrong with the serum before it was perfected, so to create suitable test subjects, their geneticists gave the ATA gene to the chittii who had been simple pets up to this point."

"Ah-hah, that explains _that_ little quirk then," Dr Hoff said with satisfaction, rubbing his hands together.

"Aye, it most certainly does. And it also explains how the natives have the ATA gene," Dr Beckett added. "What else did you find out Rodney?"

"According to the files, they discovered something they called "Trillem" which neutralized the affects of the floppy juice. They don't say where to find it except that it occurs naturally on the planet, but they do mention that 'imbibing, immersion and blending' is necessary for the full effect to be reached."

They were all silent for a moment, each of them considering the words and their implications. Finally Carson stirred, rubbing the side of his nose as he summed up the meaning as he understood it.

"We have to find this 'Trillem' stuff, then get Colonel Sheppard to drink it, bath in it, and then allow the stuff to enter his bloodstream?"

"Yes, that's exactly what it means," Rodney confirmed.

--ooOoo--

**A/N: I'm sorry this has taken so long, RL has been extremely busy lately, but I've finally managed to get this chapter done. Thanks must go to everyone who offered ideas, suggestions and help with this story, the response was completely surprising to me, I had no idea of the generosity of you all, and I really appreciate any and all offers and comments. I've taken all suggestions under advisement, with some being incorporated. If it's yours, thank you very much.**

**If I didn't manage to reply to your review, please forgive me, a few minor computer glitches plus a gremlin in the alerts may have caused me to overlook it. Sorry about that, I really value all your kind words, and try to respond to you all personally.**

**Having said all that, I hope you enjoyed the latest chapter. Cheers. **


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